Nigel Fountain

From my window in the Ousov dacha I loved to listen to them. We just rejoiced in peace and freedom. We were supremely happy.

Florence Farmborough became a governess in Austria. Two years later, she had moved on to work in Kiev. She was twenty-seven in 1914.

It was the turning point. Men became a little bit humbler. They weren't the bosses any more. Years ago, once you were married, you stopped at home. The men could go down the pub but the woman couldn't. But during the war women learned.