Lady Dorothie's boots- a woman on the front line

Lady Dorothie's boots worn whilst serving as an ambulance driver on the Western Front during the First World War between 1914 and 1917



Lady Dorothie Feilding was the daughter of Rudolph Feilding, the Earl of Denbigh, and Countess Cecilia Clifford. The family lived on the Newnham Paddox estate at Monks Kirby near Rugby. Dorothie had six sisters and three brothers. Five of them served during the war. Two of her brothers were killed in action.

Dorothie drove an ambulance in Flanders from 1914 to June 1917. She subsequently married the Irish Captain Charles Moore. She received three military honours, awarded by the Belgians, the French and the British, which was an exceptional achievement.

She was the only woman on the Western Front allowed to work on such a dangerous front line, thanks to the support of King Albert I and three patrons. Chance also played a role.