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Elsie and Mairi Go to War: Two Extraordinary Women on the Western Front
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272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
February 28, 2019
It didn't really take me 9 years to read this book - it sat on the shelf for 5 of those years, probably with 75 pages left to read. But I finally picked it back up and finished.
Mostly an enjoyable book about two young women who hop on their motorcycles and go to war. Elsie left her young child with an aunt. Not sure if she had a divorce or got that later. But Elsie and Mairie found their way to an aid station right by the front lines. And they helped get the wounded to next stop on the road. They were gassed and eventually returned to Britain. They had held on to their aid station long after everyone would have liked them to be off the front line. The Germans were just over the hill.
I got the impression much of the book was taken from Elsie's autobiography and yet I didn't like her as much as Mairie. It was like Elsie could not let go of the war and Mairie found a way to get on with her life - even as a poultry farmer.
I thought it took Atkinson a little long to wind up the book. It is a complaint that I usually have about mysteries but can also happen with non-fiction. So I downgraded half a point for delay.
Mostly an enjoyable book about two young women who hop on their motorcycles and go to war. Elsie left her young child with an aunt. Not sure if she had a divorce or got that later. But Elsie and Mairie found their way to an aid station right by the front lines. And they helped get the wounded to next stop on the road. They were gassed and eventually returned to Britain. They had held on to their aid station long after everyone would have liked them to be off the front line. The Germans were just over the hill.
I got the impression much of the book was taken from Elsie's autobiography and yet I didn't like her as much as Mairie. It was like Elsie could not let go of the war and Mairie found a way to get on with her life - even as a poultry farmer.
I thought it took Atkinson a little long to wind up the book. It is a complaint that I usually have about mysteries but can also happen with non-fiction. So I downgraded half a point for delay.
January 25, 2012
A very remarkable story told in a very unremarkable way. The author used diaries, correspondence, newspaper articles and interviews to piece together the story, the writing often reads as if reading from the author's notecards.
August 31, 2011
A good story poorly told, in my opinion. Too flippant for a non-fiction book. Elsie's maiden name was Shapter, and author is unable to resist the temptation to call the first chapter "The Shapter Chapter." Felt like something a 13-year-old would do. Also the account sticks to a chronological recitation at the expense of theme and, to some extent, clarity. Should really have recounted women's post-World-War-I lives in one sweep--cover Elsie till her death, then go back and recount Mairi's post-war life. Still worth reading because the women were extraordinary, but they haven't been done full service in this account.
March 8, 2017
When a note came from headquarters saying that 'the presence of female personnel in medical units on the military front is no longer permitted' an exception was made for two women and they continued to run a battlefield first-aid post close to the Belgian lines. This is their story.
The story itself is worth telling. I wish the author, her proofreader and her editor had taken more time and care in telling it. The book feels rushed and fragmentary, more like notes for a book than a finished product. The information has been arranged chronologically, but not selected or sorted for relevance or theme. It did not make for a good reading experience.
The story itself is worth telling. I wish the author, her proofreader and her editor had taken more time and care in telling it. The book feels rushed and fragmentary, more like notes for a book than a finished product. The information has been arranged chronologically, but not selected or sorted for relevance or theme. It did not make for a good reading experience.
November 8, 2010
Elsie and Mairi Goes to War had the potential to be a great read because of the subject matter. In 1914 Elsie Knocker (divorced with one son) and Mairi Chisholm (18 and still living at home) were madcap motorbikers. With the outbreak of the war, they joined England's Women's Emergency Corps, then were recruited for the Flying Ambulance Corps, whose mission was to help Belgian soldiers. Unfortunately it reads like a dissertation and it's a little disjointed. I'm not sorry I read it but I don't highly recommend it.
August 2, 2014
Ditto others.
A good story told badly, even for an academic writer. This book drags and loops and avoids interest at every turn. The parts of a great book are here. Maybe this is an IKEA book, and it arrives flatpack you assemble it yourself.
A good story told badly, even for an academic writer. This book drags and loops and avoids interest at every turn. The parts of a great book are here. Maybe this is an IKEA book, and it arrives flatpack you assemble it yourself.
April 26, 2015
I totally agree with all the other reviews of this book. Amazing women who have been done an injustice in the way this book tells their story.
April 16, 2021
I read this as part of research into women doctors and nurses in the First World War for a story I'm writing. It started off a bit of a mad dash though the pages, extracting information to use as background colour. However, I soon got sucked into the story for its own sake...they were amazing women who saw a job that needed doing and did it. They spent a great deal of time running a first aid post very close to the Belgian lines in the cellar of a bombed out building and went out every night looking for wounded who had been overlooked on the battlefield. Their story is told through letters and photos and recollections and is a very easy read.
Elsie was quite a bit older than Mairi and I took an instant dislike to her…she was clearly an adventuress who thrived on adrenaline. She lied about being a divorcee and having a child to the Belgian nobleman she went on to marry during the war. Afterwards when he found out and they parted, she flitted from one thing to another…for example setting up a first aid post in the East End of London during the General Strike and actually causing more problems than she solved.
Mairi on the other hand settled back to post-war life with comparative ease. She, a close friend and a couple of other women opened a chicken-breeding farm in Scotland, temporarily moved the whole shebang to Guernsey and from thence back to Scotland again.
I found it a really interesting, colourful book that brought the protaganists to life. I also came away with a distinct feeling that Mairi had a crush on Elsie. She never married although she and her close friend lived together for decades after the war. Although that isn't surprising for women of that generation, I guess, because of the swathes of men lost in the trenches.
Elsie was quite a bit older than Mairi and I took an instant dislike to her…she was clearly an adventuress who thrived on adrenaline. She lied about being a divorcee and having a child to the Belgian nobleman she went on to marry during the war. Afterwards when he found out and they parted, she flitted from one thing to another…for example setting up a first aid post in the East End of London during the General Strike and actually causing more problems than she solved.
Mairi on the other hand settled back to post-war life with comparative ease. She, a close friend and a couple of other women opened a chicken-breeding farm in Scotland, temporarily moved the whole shebang to Guernsey and from thence back to Scotland again.
I found it a really interesting, colourful book that brought the protaganists to life. I also came away with a distinct feeling that Mairi had a crush on Elsie. She never married although she and her close friend lived together for decades after the war. Although that isn't surprising for women of that generation, I guess, because of the swathes of men lost in the trenches.
March 19, 2014
The jolly hockey sticks style jarred with me. To an extent the "larks" described in the book, at least in the early stages of World War One, were in keeping with the prevailing mood. It had been a long time since Britain had been involved in a proper war and, with so many people desperate to do their bit, Mairi Chisholm, an 18 year-old upper-class Scottish motorcyclist, and her friend Elsie Knocker, a 30 year old single mother, were no different. Somewhat improbably Elsie and Mairi were recruited by a socialist, vegetarian, idealistic nudist to work in a privately managed ambulance corps. Their lack of medical skills didn't inhibit them, and they spent much of their time handing out patent medicines and mugs of soup and hot chocolate.
There are some interesting aspects to this book. The extent to which, in the war's early stages, so much was improvised. And, as I've already hinted, the extent to which the war was exciting and fun for these two women, indeed it seems to have been something of a playground for them. Elsie and Mairi enjoyed playful conversations with German soldiers, and lovely suppers with flowers, chocolate and champagne. Before long Elsie and Mairi became celebrities, collecting medals from Belgian and English dignitaries. At the Battle of Passchendaele, Elsie and Mairi were gassed and finally evacuated, and they returned home.
I have read ten books about World War One in the last few months and much of what is described in this book comes over as a completely different conflict. There is a fascinating book to be written about this aspect of World War One, perhaps using Elsie and Mairi's experiences as the springboard for a broader study, however this book felt flippant and lacking in substance. Perfectly readable, but too much like a ripping fun-filled yarn, which is completely inappropriate and demeaning for a story that takes place during World War One with all of its associated suffering and tragedy.
2/5
There are some interesting aspects to this book. The extent to which, in the war's early stages, so much was improvised. And, as I've already hinted, the extent to which the war was exciting and fun for these two women, indeed it seems to have been something of a playground for them. Elsie and Mairi enjoyed playful conversations with German soldiers, and lovely suppers with flowers, chocolate and champagne. Before long Elsie and Mairi became celebrities, collecting medals from Belgian and English dignitaries. At the Battle of Passchendaele, Elsie and Mairi were gassed and finally evacuated, and they returned home.
I have read ten books about World War One in the last few months and much of what is described in this book comes over as a completely different conflict. There is a fascinating book to be written about this aspect of World War One, perhaps using Elsie and Mairi's experiences as the springboard for a broader study, however this book felt flippant and lacking in substance. Perfectly readable, but too much like a ripping fun-filled yarn, which is completely inappropriate and demeaning for a story that takes place during World War One with all of its associated suffering and tragedy.
2/5
September 5, 2014
This book about two women who set up their own hospital near the frontline at Ypres makes fascinating reading. Brought together by their love of motorbikes, Elsie Knocker was a trained nurse, while her friend Mairi was a keen amateur mechanic. After heading out to Belgium to drive ambulances, the two women noticed how many men were dying before they arrived at a medical station. They decided to operate as near to the scene of battle as possible, so that they could provide treatment for shock and vital first aid - as well as preventative care, such as looking after foot blisters before they became serious.
Diane Atkinson writes vividly and includes a lot of fascinating little details which really help to bring Elsie and Mairi's work to life. She shows how the women in effect lived in between two worlds, since they often had to leave their posts in order to return to Britain to raise funds. They were treated as celebrities, so they were often going from a scene of terrible suffering to parties and dinners where they could raise money. The strain on the nurses comes across through accounts of how some rivalries and rows arose between different 'angels' struggling to cope with a living nightmare.
At times the chronological approach does become rather disjointed and confusing and I could have done with more explanation about exactly who somebody was who turns up in the narrative. But all in all I found this a gripping read.
Diane Atkinson writes vividly and includes a lot of fascinating little details which really help to bring Elsie and Mairi's work to life. She shows how the women in effect lived in between two worlds, since they often had to leave their posts in order to return to Britain to raise funds. They were treated as celebrities, so they were often going from a scene of terrible suffering to parties and dinners where they could raise money. The strain on the nurses comes across through accounts of how some rivalries and rows arose between different 'angels' struggling to cope with a living nightmare.
At times the chronological approach does become rather disjointed and confusing and I could have done with more explanation about exactly who somebody was who turns up in the narrative. But all in all I found this a gripping read.
March 22, 2014
Elsie and Mairi had interesting experiences and their story is worth knowing. However, the writing in this book was really poor. It seemed like a rough draft. I was actually shocked to discover that Diane Atkinson has written several books--I assumed this was her first and wondered how she had found a publisher for it. It needs extensive editing. I laughed out loud when I read this comment in chapter 5. "We are bound to say that the tone of the narrative does not altogether please. It is too kittenish...one seems to hear the writer going off into a giggle whenever a handsome man comes into the story. That is a jarring note and it is a great pity that it should have been struck, for the adventure itself is a very fine one, and moves on a plane in which giggling is really quite out of place." This was from a review of a 1916 book about Elsie and Mairi. It could have been written about this one. The book sounded promising, but it simply didn't deliver.
March 18, 2018
There's a good story here, and much of it gets through. Two women, one 30, one 18, become friends through their love of motorcycles and go to France together when WWI breaks out. They served as nurses through incredibly difficult circumstances near the front and accomplished tremendous feats of both courage and healing.
My principal criticism of the book is that is was written by an academic. She researched her subjects thoroughly, but as a conscientious academic writer, she seemed unable to edit out information that while factual, was not relevant and bogged down the reader. I understand the desire to create a book "of record" for the sake of other researchers, but there was a great deal of information that could have easily been placed in endnotes, which would have made for a much cleaner and more enjoyable narrative.
My principal criticism of the book is that is was written by an academic. She researched her subjects thoroughly, but as a conscientious academic writer, she seemed unable to edit out information that while factual, was not relevant and bogged down the reader. I understand the desire to create a book "of record" for the sake of other researchers, but there was a great deal of information that could have easily been placed in endnotes, which would have made for a much cleaner and more enjoyable narrative.
July 12, 2015
There are better books about awesome women during the war. Elsie and Mairi are interesting and brave, but the book did not do a great job of talking about them.
This book never seemed to have enough sources to seem definitive about what their daily activities were actually like. There was way too much back story about where they had grown up and what their fellow soldiers backgrounds were instead of substantiating the facts. The author seems to just prattle on to make this story a length she envisioned.
It really doesn't paint a flattering picture of Elsie, and the Harry marriage seems shrouded in weird mystery and speculation.
This book never seemed to have enough sources to seem definitive about what their daily activities were actually like. There was way too much back story about where they had grown up and what their fellow soldiers backgrounds were instead of substantiating the facts. The author seems to just prattle on to make this story a length she envisioned.
It really doesn't paint a flattering picture of Elsie, and the Harry marriage seems shrouded in weird mystery and speculation.
August 13, 2014
Other reviews have encapsulated this story well, so I will say that I really enjoyed learning about these two very interesting and courageous women during WWI. However, as others have said, the style of the writing and/or editing of this story makes it quite difficult to read, particularly in the earlier chapters. its as if the publishing company forgot to edit it, perhaps it got placed in the "to edit" pile and then moved immediately and by mistake to "ready to publish". All the facts are there and the research is exhaustive, it just does not read well. I particularly found the frequent use of fragments of quotations to be cumbersome.
April 23, 2011
This is a book about two extraordinary British women motorcyclists, who became the only uniformed women to serve on the Western front during World War I. Starting their own way station just past the Ypres battlefield, they also made daily visits to the trenches with food, tea and what clothes and blankets they could get. Although this book often moved clumsily, with many unrelated, unexplained names and facts, for me the exceptional story more than carried it. I read this for a book discussion, and am eagerly waiting to discuss some of the women and class issues frequently brought up.
December 11, 2021
Reading group book. I was hopeful of this book, having an interest in the volunteers who helped in the services hospitals in WW1. ( My grandmother was one although only about 16)
However I felt the author just took chunks from various sources & regurgitated them, doing family history I could see exactly where a lot of her background information came from ( censuses, marriage & birth certificates, ships passenger lists) although no doubt these were harder to obtain when the book was written.
Some sections did come alive but many felt as if they could have been better.
However I felt the author just took chunks from various sources & regurgitated them, doing family history I could see exactly where a lot of her background information came from ( censuses, marriage & birth certificates, ships passenger lists) although no doubt these were harder to obtain when the book was written.
Some sections did come alive but many felt as if they could have been better.
September 24, 2010
At times a bit boring.
March 6, 2013
As another reviewer said, "a good story told poorly".
August 11, 2013
The story of two women near the front lines during WWI running a field hospital for several years.
March 10, 2020
Interesting story and great photos but rather a plod to read
February 10, 2019
i wondered if this might be a feminist account of these two women (especially as the author seems to write about the subject rather a lot) but although there is an underlying element of that it is not in a political or pushy way. Instead the book is a fascinating account of two ladies who I'm ashamed to say are ignored by history - I cant believe there hasn't been a feature film made about them.......well worth a read.....despite the unusual style of writing, jumping between the women and topics, even within the same paragraphs...odd, but perhaps understandable considering the nature of her sources.
May 6, 2017
I was brought to this by seeing Louise Jordan's No petticoats highly enjoyable tour of music and stories about some key women's experiences in WW1. The main story of the Elsie and Mairi could be turned into a British version of the recent film "Hacksaw Ridge". It does seem quite ironic that their presence was only possible because they were under Belgian auspices, yet were given awards by the establishment and garnered quite a bit of coverage in the press. This book clearly paints the picture of what like was like for them under fire.
February 23, 2023
Elsie and Mairi sound like amazing women who deserved to be recognized for their service in WWI. They're definitely not the only women who were on the front lines - for instance, many female ambulance drivers served under fire as well, and some YMCA volunteers and nurses were close enough to the fighting to be killed - but maybe they were the only women on the front lines in unoccupied Belgium. The book feels like mostly summary with a lot of speculation plugging in gaps; it has some exciting parts and some I definitely skimmed. A large chunk of the book is post-war.
June 25, 2024
(Reading time is approximated).
I purchased this book after a short trip to Ypres. I was hoping to learn more about the role of woman in nursing during the first World War. And I wasn't disappointed, but I was also a bit - dissatisfied?
The writing style veered from a fact written documentary style, to perhaps a bit sensationalism in it? The book is about two woman but only one was featured prominently - while the other seemed to be a bit of an after thought?
I finished the book but it felt a bit "mweh". Not sure if I would recommend this book to anyone.
I purchased this book after a short trip to Ypres. I was hoping to learn more about the role of woman in nursing during the first World War. And I wasn't disappointed, but I was also a bit - dissatisfied?
The writing style veered from a fact written documentary style, to perhaps a bit sensationalism in it? The book is about two woman but only one was featured prominently - while the other seemed to be a bit of an after thought?
I finished the book but it felt a bit "mweh". Not sure if I would recommend this book to anyone.
July 6, 2017
Ha sido un magnífico descubrimiento encontrar esta joya en la librería del Imperial War Museum de Londres. Desconocía por completo la existencia de estas dos mujeres. El libro explica la historia de Elsie y Mairi, que viajaron al frente belga durante la Primera Guerra Mundial y curaron a muchos soldados heridos y enfermos. Un testimonio precioso de la valentía de dos mujeres que se enfrentaron a la muerte y la desolación.
October 15, 2019
The story is amazing, it just needed better editing. Commas are a thing! Also the end felt a bit jumbled and rushed, and it felt like the author was afraid to present more than verifiable, objective fact, when a bit of speculation might have been warranted. On the whole, though, the subjects are fascinating and learning about them is absolutely worthwhile.
February 5, 2019
I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. There were too many details included, along with too much information about minor characters (who may have been fascinating, but it became distracting). After I decided to skim, it was much more enjoyable.
May 2, 2020
Incredibly Moving
Immersive, well written & inspiring. Sad too, after returning they lost contact & the deep friendship built in the trenches.
Immersive, well written & inspiring. Sad too, after returning they lost contact & the deep friendship built in the trenches.
August 14, 2023
Well written, not too speculative, amazing how everyone knew each other out there....
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews