The only woman on the front-line in WWI is honoured at crematorium
A special dedication ceremony has taken place of a headstone in memory of Sapper Dorothy Lawrence, the only woman who served on the front-line during World War One.
Dorothy, a journalist, posed as a man in order to report from the front line in France during the war.
She died in August 1964 and was interred in an unmarked public grave within the grounds of New Southgate Cemetery & Crematorium, having been confined in a mental health institution for nearly 40 years, during which time she received no visitors.
In 2003, the grandson of one of several soldiers who had helped her in France discovered her autobiography, first published in 1919 - while researching his family history.
Her story then attracted the attention of academics and researchers, with plays and short-films created to tell the story of her ten days in the trenches of the Somme.
The Royal Engineers Association is a charity dedicated to preserving the memory of those who have served our country and approached the crematorium with the proposal that the REA funds a memorial stone to Sapper Lawrence.
It was a request that the crematorium was happy to approve and a dedication service took place of the new headstone in early November 2025.
Kenneth Kirk, REA Chief Executive, said: “We wished to fund a grave marker for Sapper Lawrence to honour and reflect her service during World War One.
“Casualties of WWI who lie in unmarked, or unknown, graves number 559,000 and we believe it is right to mark the resting place of the one woman who uniquely might be numbered among them.”
Dorothy Lawrence obtained a military uniform, took on a false identity and went to France in 1915, where she saw the opening stages of the battle of Loos with the Royal Engineers, less than 400 yards from the German front line.
After ten days in the trenches, she revealed her true gender, fearing that if she needed medical attention the truth would emerge anyway and that those soldiers who had helped her might be punished.
When Dorothy revealed her identity in 1915 she was arrested and interrogated, on suspicion of being a spy or a prostitute and was then sent home.
Crematorium manager David Stevenson said: “Dorothy Lawrence was a remarkable woman who wanted to give a female perspective of the activities of men on the front-line as part of her aspirations to forge a career in journalism.
“In those days, no newspaper would send a female war correspondent to the front lines, but Dorothy was determined to get there and went to extraordinary lengths, to become the only woman on the front-line during WWI.
“Times have changed since then, of course, although it’s only as recently as 2018 that all roles in the UK armed forces, including combat positions, have been open to women.
“But things were different in Dorothy’s day, and it’s almost unthinkable, by today’s values, to understand what happened to her and how she was treated when she revealed the truth in 1915.
“It feels only right that Dorothy Lawrence is recognised and remembered, and we had no hesitation in granting the request of the REA for a Portland limestone memorial to be installed within our grounds in her honour.
“Having this stone here hopefully returns to her some of the dignity and respect that she was denied in life.”
Visitors to New Southgate Cemetery can pay their respects at Dorothy’s memorial headstone. Please enquire about its location at the cemetery office or download our grounds map.
