Memories of WW1

Bette Masterman aged 17

My mother's memories of the First World War as a tiny child:

One day I was taken into Newcastle to see the soldiers marching down Grainger Street to the Central Station on their way to France. I was held up on somebody’s shoulder so that I could see over the people in front. 

Crowds lined the street, the soldiers marched past, then a deep moan went through the crowd as the girls came into view. 

They were the nurses also on their way to France. I can remember hearing somebody saying, “The bits o’ lasses are ganning as well,” and the tears rolling down people’s cheeks.

From the Autobiography of Bette Masterman Emmett born 12 April 1913