:00:16. > :00:33.Some of the most important battles took place here.
:00:34. > :00:36.Today it's 100 years since the UK joined the First World War, the
:00:37. > :00:41.Millions of people died in the Great War, and it changed society forever.
:00:42. > :00:44.With so many men away fighting, women became much more involved
:00:45. > :00:47.in the war effort, as nurses, factory workers and farm workers.
:00:48. > :00:49.On August the 4th, 1914, war was declared.
:00:50. > :00:56.Six million men from the UK fought during the four year conflict.
:00:57. > :01:01.It would come to be known as the war to end all wars.
:01:02. > :01:03.And it wasn't just men on the frontline.
:01:04. > :01:06.Women were also willing to risk everything by looking
:01:07. > :01:11.after the injured men who had come straight from the battlefields.
:01:12. > :01:14.Women like Nelly - a trained nurse who volunteered to work
:01:15. > :01:17.These were usually a safe distance from the fighting,
:01:18. > :01:22.made up of large tents with up to 800 beds for the wounded men.
:01:23. > :01:25.In the summer of 1917, Nelly's clearing station was closer
:01:26. > :01:28.to the danger - based beside a railway track which
:01:29. > :01:34.It was the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele,
:01:35. > :01:39.and Nelly's station was overwhelmed with casualties.
:01:40. > :01:45.Throughout the coming weeks the area was under constant attack.
:01:46. > :01:47.This is where Nelly's story comes to an end.
:01:48. > :01:52.On the 21st of August, 1917, she was killed.
:01:53. > :01:54.A bomb landed close to the tent where she was catering to
:01:55. > :01:59.Amongst the 10,000 men who were buried in this cemetery, she's the
:02:00. > :02:12.only woman - a brave nurse who died when she was just 26 years old.
:02:13. > :02:15.Nelly was one of many women who worked tirelessly in horrendous
:02:16. > :02:17.conditions to provide the immediate care that soldiers needed.
:02:18. > :02:19.Soldiers with more serious, long-term injuries needed somewhere
:02:20. > :02:23.safer to recover, well away from the dangers of battle.
:02:24. > :02:26.Many made the long trip back to Britain where they would be
:02:27. > :02:36.Universities, town halls, even sport stadiums were transformed
:02:37. > :02:41.into places that looked after sick and injured soldiers.
:02:42. > :02:46.One of those places was right here at Dunham Massey in Cheshire.
:02:47. > :02:50.Describe what a typical day would have been like in this ward.
:02:51. > :02:53.The soldiers here were very much still serving soldiers so they
:02:54. > :03:05.It tells us the things that were happening - when they had meals,
:03:06. > :03:12.when lights out was, and how visitors were encouraged to behave.
:03:13. > :03:17.The length of time it took to get soldiers back from France...
:03:18. > :03:25.Lots of back problems, broken limbs, lots
:03:26. > :03:34.Dunham Massey and other hospitals like this were
:03:35. > :03:42.They had a lasting impact on society.
:03:43. > :03:45.Before the war, the women who worked here, and those
:03:46. > :03:51.Now they were working in factories, operating machinery
:03:52. > :03:55.and jobs often reserved for men - and doing them well.
:03:56. > :04:00.This hospital had a few strands of management - so the person
:04:01. > :04:07.in charge of the hospital, and that was Lady Stanford.
:04:08. > :04:21.It would have been such a different experience for them,
:04:22. > :04:24.they probably would never have been used to something like this prior to
:04:25. > :04:29.It would have been really empowering for these women
:04:30. > :04:33.and girls to see what they could achieve if they worked together.
:04:34. > :04:34.The world for women changed dramatically
:04:35. > :04:42.For the first time, years after, women were allowed to vote
:04:43. > :04:44.and have their say about who ran the country politically.
:04:45. > :04:46.That really helped women - their prospects, and
:04:47. > :04:55.Places like this show everyone the important work that women
:04:56. > :05:02.The sacrifices they made started a real change in attitudes