"On The Battlefield" tells the story of those women who have experienced battle at first hand. Occasionally forced to masquerade as men, they fought in the conflicts which have shaped our world, from the American and English Civil wars, the Napoleonic battles and the two World Wars to Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East. Whether a celebrated historical figure, such as Boudicca, or one of the many unsung fighters on the front line, each of their sacrifices made them worthy heroines.
The use of genuine wartime imagery will not produce the visual quality expected of modern technology. The ultimately tragic spy, Mata Hari, was the archetypal "femme fatale", and the nun-like Florence Nightingale, the selfless field nurse. In "Spies And Angels" we look at both of these iconic women, in addition to such formidable pioneers as medic Mabel Stobart and nurse Edith Cavell, famously executed during the Second World War for espionage. As technology began to change the world around us, so women's roles adapted in both medicine and counterintelligence.
The use of genuine wartime imagery will not produce the visual quality expected of modern technology. Since the horrors of tribal assault and massacre, women have carved out an important wartime role, often having to fight their own male establishment as well as the enemy to do so. More recently they have led protests against war. How successful have women been in destroying the no job for a woman labels and how successful have they been in holding on to these roles when the guns fall silent?