Hello
I am researching the life of Dorothy Lawrence, I want to write a film about her. She was a freelance journalist who ventured to the front lines during WW1 disguised as a soldier and spent ten days in the trenches with the 179 Tunnelling Company, 51st Division, Royal Engineers before succumbing to illness.
She was forced by the war office to not disclose any details of her adventures while the war continued. After which she released her book Sapper Dorothy Lawrence: The Only English Woman Soldier.
I am struggling to find information on her life, especially before and after the war. There are a lot of conflicting stories.
I believe she was adopted in 1901 by Josephine Fitzgerald of 31 The Close, Salisbury, who died in 1926.
In 1925 Dorothy accused her guardian - a prominent Church of England figure - of raping her during her youth. Soon after she was sent to Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum where she remained until her death in 1964.
Any information on Dorothy's life, or that of Josephine Fitzgerald, would be hugely appreciated.
Cheers
Will