Mrs Fischer’s War tells the story of a married couple, Carl and Janet Fischer, during the First World War. Carl was born in Germany but to escape a stern father and the restrictions of German life, including the obligation to serve in the army, he settled in England as a young man. Here he has a successful business and has prospered. Janet is English, and adores her husband. They have a thoroughly English son, John. Life for the family is good: comfortable, loving, and full of shared interests.   Carl’s passion for England makes him “more English than any Englishman”. Then the discovery of his grandmother’s diary awakens in him the desire to see the town where she and his family lived. He and Janet plan a camping holiday in Germany. It gets off to a bad start when John sprains his ankle and is unable to go with them. And, too, there are the rumours of war. But Janet’s sister offers to look after John, they shrug off the rumours, and off they go. At first everything about...

Latchkey Ladies , Marjorie Grant (Handheld Press 2022, first published 1921) The work women did during the First World War, when many moved into occupations formerly carried out by men, is often viewed as a gateway to liberation. The new skills they learned and the wider variety of jobs available to them gave them the chance to earn more than they could in traditionally female occupations (though still, usually, less than men). Women could now afford to live independently, either on their own or sharing with others. Now, at last, women had stepped out of the cage. Or so the story goes. It’s interesting, then, to find a different perspective in Latchkey Ladies , for the women in this novel do not want these new-found freedoms. They do not want to be single, and they do not want to go out to work. For them entry into the work place does not mean liberation, it means mind-numbing drudgery. The possession of a latchkey to their own rooms does not mean independence, it means loneliness;...

Phyllis of the Die-Hards I recently bought on eBay a First World War postcard: Phyllis of the Die-Hards . My interest in the card is in the image, which is one of many representations of women at work during the war. The card was posted in West Ealing, London on 1 October 1917, with the following message:    “Est-ce que tu me reconnaisse? Nous sommes tres saufes après les visites d’airoplanes. Avec beaucoup amour. P[signature illegible – could it be Phyllis?]”    It was addressed to “2 nd Lieut J A R Andrews, 6 th Lincolnshire Regt, BEF, France”.    I was intrigued by the message and the fact that it had been sent to a soldier. It also seemed to me that it provided a lot of information, and that although Andrews is not an uncommon surname, the initials “J A R” are. Not really expecting much to come of it, I did a Google search. To my astonishment, I came upon an entry about 2 nd Lieut Andrews of the 6 th Lincolnshire at www.findagra...