In 1915, under the aegis of the French Red Cross, volunteer medical women from the Scottish Women’s Hospital Service for Foreign Service established a hospital at Royaumont Abbey in France, to treat casualties of the First World War. By working as a team comprised of radiologists, bacteriologists and surgeons, they were able to combat gas gangrene and record remarkable results. The circumstances and the way in which the doctors were portrayed in France and Britain prevented them from actively promoting their results to gain
wider acceptance. After the War, medical women lost their training and employment opportunities and many left the profession.
