Mairi Chisholm reading in the cellar at Pervyse
Mairi Lambert Gooden-Chisholm of Chisholm, better known as Mairi Chisholm (1895-1981), Scottish nurse and ambulance driver during World War I pictured in silhouette, taking a rare, quiet moment to read in the cellar at Pervyse. Together with Elsie Knocker (known as Baroness de T'Serclaes after her second marriage to a Belgian in 1916), also a nurse and ambulance driver the pair were awarded the Military Medal for their bravery and work with the wounded on the Western Front in Belgium. The pair initially joined the Voluntary Emergency Corps but then later set up their own first aid dressing station just 100 yards from the trenches at Pervyse, north of Ypres. Elsie concentrated on providing medical attention while Mairi transported injured soldiers to the base hospital fifteen miles away, often in highly dangerous conditions. Their bravery attracted journalists and photographers and they became some of the most photographed women of the war
