BEWI has two flourishing history groups and in Remembrance week our local history group looked at heroines and some animals who deserve recognition.
- Flora Sandes, the British woman who fought in both WW1 and WW11. She joined the Serbian Army aged 38 after not being able to join the British Army and later fought again in WW11.
- Welshwoman Mabel Wulff who went to live in Hamburg with her German husband and through brave deeds helped to save St Thomas a Becket Anglican Church there by hiding its artwork from fires. She also sheltered people to save lives.
- Nurse Edith Cavell helped around 200 Allied soldiers to escape from occupied Belgium but was executed by the Germans in 1915.
- The Canary Girls who worked bravely in munitions factories faced daily perils by handling explosives. Their skin and hair turned yellow through exposure to TNT and around 400 died in WW1 through liver disease.
- Innumerable horses and dogs and pigeons who acted as messengers in wars.
- More recently Flight-Lieutenant Sarah-Jayne Mulvihill was the first woman killed in action in Iraq, a stark reminder of the role females play in modern day warfare.
- One of our members paid tribute to her mother who taught children throughout WW11 including being evacuated with them.
BEWI attended the Remembrance Day Service in the village where, as a community, we stood in silence remembering and honouring those who perished in both world wars and in more recent conflicts.
