I am learning French and part of that is watching French entertainment with English subtitles. I googled “Netflix shows in French with English subtitles” and stumbled upon one of the most interesting things I have watched on TV, well, ever.
Women at War, 1914-1918 is the story of how the women in France handled, or were made to handle, their men all leaving for the front lines. Subjects included pacifism movements, women working in fields and munition plants, among many other topics. There was also a lot of front line footage. Some of the footage was from Germany, but the vast majority is from France.
Speaking of the footage, it was simply amazing. The producers digitized and colorized photos and films from the era and I was stunned at the quality. I paused the movie a bunch of times to take in certain frames.
Highly recommended for those with not just an interest in the main subject matter of women at war, but anyone with a WW1 interest.
***Caution*** Some of the footage is graphic (war wounds and dead bodies), and there is a bit of nudity.
One aspect of women at war then was Marie Curie who, with her daughter, paid for a series of mobile xray labs in trucks to take xrays of soldiers’ injuries. They were called “petite Curies.” She spent the war doing that and then, at its end, returned to her research,.
There is a segment in the documentary on Marie Curie and the Petite Curies.
General Edward Spiers, who was Churchill’s emissary to France in 1940 and wrote some really great memoirs, mentioned meeting Eve Curie. I think he had at least a mild crush on her.