In the thick of it
The last — and one of the biggest — of the German offensives during the First World War came in March 1918.
wMairi Chisholm and Elsie Knocker found themselves right in the thick of it.
The nurses continued to work as shells burst around them, protecting themselves from gas attacks by wearing gas masks, which were now much more effective than at the start of the war.
In the picture shown here, the two women (bottom left) are ducking for cover as a shell explodes in the background.
Also shown is a secret memo passed to Mairi and her companion by Britain's Australian Allies warning them of imminent allied shelling and advising them to withdraw from Pervyse until it is over.
