ht, and it was the rarest
thing to find one whose nerves gave way. I have seen others rescue
wounded from falling houses, and drive their cars boldly into streets
with bricks and debris flying.

I have also, alas! seen them grievously wounded; and on one occasion,
killed, and found their comrades continuing their work in the actual
presence of their dead.

The free homes of Britain little realise what our war women have been
through, or what an undischarged debt is owing to them.

How few now realise to what a large extent they were responsible for the
fighting spirit, for the _morale_, for the tenacity which won the war!
The feeling, the knowledge that their women were at hand to succour and
to tend them when they fell raised the fighting spirit of the men and
made them brave and confident.

The above qualities are well exemplified by the conduct and bearing of
our Authoress herself, who, when grievously injured, never lost her head
or her consciousness, but through half an hour sat quietly on the
road-side beside the wreck of her car and the mangled remains of her
late companion. Rumour has it that she asked for and smoked a
cigarette.

Such heroism in a young girl strongly appealed to the imagination of our
French and Belgian Allies, and two rows of medals bedeck her khaki
jacket.

Other natural qualities of our race, which largely helped to win the
war, are brought out very vividly, although unconsciously, in this book,
_e.g._ the spirit of cheerfulness; the power to forget danger and
hardship; the faculty of seeing the humorous side of things; of making
the best of things; the spirit of comradeship which sweetened life.

These qualities were nowhere more evident than among the F.A.N.Y. Their
_esprit-de-corps_, their gaiety, their discipline, their smartness and
devotion when duty called were infectious, almost an inspiration to
those who witnessed them.

Throughout the war the "Fannys" were renowned for their resourcefulness.
They were always ready to take on any and every job, from starting up a
frozen car to nursing a bad typhoid case, and they rose to the occasion
every time.

H.N. THOMPSON, K.C.M.G., C.B., D.S.O.,
_Major-General_.

_Director of Medical Services, British Army of the Rhine._

_Assistant Director Medical Services, 2nd Division, 1914;
ditto 48th Division, 1915; Deputy-Director Medical Services,
VI Corps, May 1915 to July 1917; Director Me