History - Military Medal Recipients - Lady Dorothie Feilding
The first woman to be awarded the Military Medal was Lady Dorothie Feilding who was also awarded medals by France and Belgium for services to their wounded during the First World War.
Lady Dorothie Feilding outside the hospital in Furnes, Belgium 'The War Illustrated' (Wikipedia)
A British heiress, Lady Dorothie Mary Evelyn Feilding was born on the 6th of October 1889, the second child of Rudolph Feilding, the 9th Earl of Denbigh, and Cecilia Mary Feilding, the Countess of Denbigh.
The couple would go on to have a total of 10 children, 7 daughters and 3 sons.
Dorothie was first educated at home at Monks Kirby in Warwickshire before being sent to the Convent of the Assumption in Paris.
As was the custom for aristocratic women, she made her debut, aged 18, in May 1908 and was presented to King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.
Dorothie’s father was a military man, so it was no surprise that her brothers would serve when World War I was declared.
However, Dorothie would also step forward to do her part, along with three of her sisters – Lady Clare, Lady Elizabeth and Lady Victoria.
On the 25th of September 1914, just before her 25th birthday, Dorothie arrived in France after completing a short training course at Rugby Hospital.
The time she’d spent in Paris when she was younger meant she was fluent in French, which was immensely beneficial.
Travelling to the Western Front in Belgium, she was one of the drivers for the Munro Ambulance Corps.
Started in August 1914 by Hector Munro, a director of the Medico-Psychological Clinic in London, and using ambulances donated by the British Red Cross, the corps worked with the Belgian Red Cross to move wounded men from front line positions to hospitals.
Dorothie and the women of the all-volunteer unit worked in the West Flanders region, ferrying the wounded from front line positions between Nieuport and Dixmude to hospitals in Furnes.
Her privileged background did not set her apart from those around her, irrespective of their upbringing. An easy demeanour enabled her to transcend social boundaries and she was at ease with many, be it aristocracy or the ordinary soldier.
'OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. A group of lady ambulance drivers or V.A.Ds.' - National Library of Scotland
Being an ambulance driver in a war zone wasn’t for the faint of heart.
Field hospitals weren’t static buildings; they had to be constantly relocated because of the advancing German Army.
Apart from having to negotiate their way through the terrain and dealing with ever-changing routes, the ambulance drivers also faced ever-present danger from bullets, shells and gas.
On the 31st of December 1914, French Rear-Admiral Pierre Ronarc’h published a special Order of the Day commending Dorothie for her heroism at Dixmude.
Admiral Pierre Alexis Ronarc'h 1917 (Wikipedia)
Rear-Admiral Ronarc’h commanded the Fusiliers Marins, specialised French naval infantry, trained for combat in land and coastal regions.
They had distinguished themselves at the Battle of the Yser in October 1914, which had taken place between Nieuport and Dixmude along a 22 mile stretch of the Yser River and Yperlee Canal. The Yperlee Canal linked the Yser Front, which was held by the Belgian Army, to the Ypres Salient, held by the French and English.
Captains of the Fusiliers-Marins at the Yser (Wikipedia)
In recognition of “showing, almost every day, the finest example of devotion and of disregard for danger”, Dorothie was awarded the Croix de Guerre.
The Croix de Guerre (Wikipedia)
In early 1915, she was also awarded the Order of Leopold II Knights Cross with palm by King Albert I of Belgium for services to his country’s wounded.
Recently decorated with the Order of Leopold: Lady Dorothie Feilding, from 'The Illustrated War News', 1915 (Wikipedia)
Order of Leopold II Knight class with palm (collections.ushmm.org)
Sometime during 1915, with her health in a poor state, Dorothie returned home for two months to rest and recuperate.
For Dorothie and her family, 1916 was to bring grief and reward.
Having returned to her duties at the Front, she was left grief-stricken by the loss of her brother, Hughie – Lt-Com the Hon. Hugh Feilding of the Royal Navy – when he was killed in action on the 31st of May 1916 at the Battle of Jutland.
Meanwhile, unknown to her, her courageous actions had come to the attention of a Royal Navy officer.
Commander Henry Crosby Halahan, commanding the Royal Naval Siege Guns, wrote a letter to the head of the British Military Mission in Belgium, Prince Alexander of Teck, recommending Dorothie be rewarded for her courageous actions.
Prince Alexander was the brother of Princess Mary who would become Queen Mary, wife of King George V.
Referring to how the conditions left the ambulance drivers with little choice but to get close to the guns, Commander Halahan wrote, “Lady Dorothie Feilding was thus frequently exposed to risks which probably no other woman has undergone. She has always displayed a devotion to duty and contempt of danger which has been a source of admiration to all.”
He also noted her services to the Belgian Army and to the Fusilier Marins.
On the 1st of September 1916, Dorothie was awarded the Military Medal, which had only been established on the 25th of March of that year. This made her the first woman to be awarded the medal.
At a ceremony at Windsor Castle on the 6th of September 1916, Dorothie was presented with the medal by King George V.
Dorothie returned to the Front in Flanders where she continued to write almost daily letters to her parents.
She not only wrote of the awfulness of war but also of the problems the women faced at the Front. They not only had to deal with shelling but also gossip, lice – which forced many to cut their hair – vehicle maintenance and inconvenient marriage proposals.
Dorothie had been a devout Roman Catholic, but her experiences at the Front – the constant and almost sudden way death claimed so many – caused her to lose faith.
By 1917, the constant brutal horror of the war had taken its toll on her, and in a letter to her mother, she wrote, “I couldn’t bear anymore just yet. I need just a little bit of peace and happiness so badly…”
In June 1917, Dorothie returned home for good.
On the 5th of July 1917, Dorothie Feilding married Captain Charles Joseph Henry O’Hara Moore of the Irish Guards.
The couple moved to Warley in Middlesex where Captain Moore was stationed.
Although she didn’t return to the Front, Dorothie was clearly not the sort of woman to choose an easier life while the war continued. She was soon back driving an ambulance, this time transporting the wounded in London.
October 1917 brought more sad news for the Feilding family. Another son, Captain the Hon. Henry Feilding of the Coldstream Guards, died on the 9th of October from wounds he’d received in action in Flanders.
Of Dorothie’s brothers, only one survived the war, Major Rudolph, Viscount Feilding, also of the Coldstream Guards.
By the end of the war, Charles Moore was discharged from service with the Military Cross.
Dorothie and Charles moved to Ireland to Charles’ ancestral home, Moorefort House in South Tipperary.
The couple had five children, 4 daughters – Ruth, Celia, Edith and June – and a son, Arthur.
Dorothie became an active member of the British Legion and was President of the Tipperary Jubilee Nursing Association as well as the local Agricultural Show Society.
A keen huntswoman, she participated regularly in hunt meets. And she and Charles frequently attended race meetings in Ireland and England.
Lady Dorothie Feilding-Moore died on the 24th of October 1935, aged only 46. The cause of death was heart failure.
She was buried on the 27th of October in the Feilding family plot at the Monks Kirby Roman Catholic cemetery.
Born an aristocrat, Dorothie Feilding could easily have chosen an undemanding, comfortable life. Instead, she chose to do her patriotic duty for her country and proved herself a most courageous, honourable woman. An outstanding inspiration for any young person today.