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Baroness de T'Serclaes

Baroness de T'Serclaes was famous in the First World War as a heroine of Pervyse. During this time she was known as Elsie Knocker, a British nurse in the Belgium Army who set up an advanced first aid post in the cellar of a house on the front line. She and her colleague Mairi Chisholm won numerous bravery awards and became the most photographed women of the war.

When the Second World War broke out, she immediately joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) before resigning when her only son was killed in action.

She explains that although she hates the waste and destructiveness of war, she has been most effective and happiest during wartime.

Baroness de T'Serclaes died, aged 93, on 26 April 1978.

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11 minutes

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