Vera Brittain (1914, English) has been featured in an article in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The article, ‘Horror of war without its glory‘, was written by Drusilla Modjeska, who grew up in “a village…in southern England”, according to the article.
Modjeska talks about growing up to be anti-war along with many of her peers. She also writes in praise of Testament of Youth, Vera Brittain’s autobiographical account of the war, published in 1933. Modjeska describes it as a “brilliant memoir”.
Among the many influenced by Vera Brittain’s writings was Jo Vellacott (1940, History), who was recently featured for a talk she delivered on the World War one pacifist Catherine Marshall. Vera Brittain’s daughter Baroness Williams of Crosby (Shirley Williams) is also an alumna of the College.
Somerville College is hosting a ‘Great War Roadshow’ on Saturday 15 November, to which Oxford residents will be invited to bring their mementoes and personal stories of the War in order to commit them to a digital archive. More details will follow shortly.