ABSTRACT
Trained nurse Alice Slythe, of the Territorial Forces Nursing Service (TFNS), began two years’ service in military hospitals in France in May 1915. From the start, she was very conscious of her diary as a record, as something for others to read, as something that documented something important—though she was not always sure just what that “something” was. Later, she gave the diary a title: “Sidelines of War.” She also had an audience in mind; the diary was dedicated “to my sister Maud, for whom this diary was recorded.” Though the dedication is in the past tense, suggesting it was likely a later addition, the language made it clear that Slythe was quite self-consciously addressing a reader, potentially multiple readers, rather than maintaining some form of internal conversation or personal reflection. It was intended as documentation of her war.
