Dorothy Lawrence

Dorothy Lawrence
Lawrence c. 1910 to 1919
Born	(1896-10-04)4 October 1896 Hendon, Middlesex,[1] England
Died	29 August 1964(1964-08-29) (aged 67) Friern Hospital, Barnet, England
Resting place	New Southgate Cemetery, Barnet[2]
Occupation	Journalist
Years active	1914–1925
Employer	Freelance
Known for	Only known English woman soldier on the frontline during World War I
Notable work	Sapper Dorothy Lawrence: The Only English Woman Soldier
Parent(s)	Thomas Hartshorn Lawrence, Mary Jane Beddall

Dorothy Lawrence (4 October 1896 – 29 August 1964) was an English journalist who posed as a male soldier to report from the front line during World War I. In 1915, she went to France, where she managed to obtain a military uniform and a false identity. Upon her arrival in Albert, Somme, she found a soldier who took her to the front lines. However, trench life affected her health, and after ten days, she revealed her sex, afraid that if she needed medical attention her true identity would be discovered and those who helped her would be punished. She was arrested and interrogated, suspected of being a spy or a prostitute. She was then sent home under a strict agreement not to write about her experiences.

After the war, Lawrence published a memoir, but it was highly censored and not very successful. Her health began to fail, and she was committed to a mental institution, where she died 40 years later. In 2003, her story was rediscovered. Her book was reprinted and the Imperial War Museum included her experiences in an exhibition on women at war. Since 2015, several plays and films have been produced based on her story.