When people think about World War I, they usually picture muddy trenches, artillery barrages and the soldiers who fought across Europe. In schools and colleges, the war is often taught through the lens of battles, military strategies, famous generals and the treaties that reshaped the world. Far less attention is given to the civilians who helped people survive the devastation. Among the most overlooked were thousands of American women who crossed the Atlantic to aid France's youngest victims. Between 1914 and 1921, they cared for orphaned children, rebuilt schools, organised relief programmes and helped communities recover from the destruction left by war. Their efforts touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of children, yet their story remains one of the least-known chapters of the Great War.
