A GROUP of Scottish heroines who served in Serbia during the First World War are being honoured in a series of stamps in the country.
Serbia was desperate for medical assistance during the war and several countries responded with aid and workers moving to eastern Europe, including about 600 British women who travelled to serve as doctors, nurses, drivers and, in one case, as a frontline soldier in the Serbian Army.
The British Embassy in Serbia worked with Serbia Post to recognise some of the women involved and a series of stamps have now been launched.
Those featured include Dr Elsie Inglis - one of the first female graduates at the University of Edinburgh - who founded the Scottish Women's Hospitals project in Serbia.
Scottish Women's Hospitals was first set up in Edinburgh but moved to battlefields across Europe to help the war effort through medical assistance and to promote the cause of women's rights.
The group operated in a number of countries during the war including France, Belgium, Russia and Greece.
Three other Scottish doctors are honoured on the Serbian stamps, including Dr Elizabeth Ross and Dr Katherine MacPhail OBE, who were among the first women to obtain medical degrees from the University of Glasgow and travelled to Serbia to volunteer. Dr MacPhail opened the first paediatric ward in Belgrade in 1921.
Dr Isabel Emslie Galloway Hutton joined Scottish Women's Hospitals as a volunteer in 1915 after she was turned away by the War Office in London.
The stamps also honour Evelina Haverfield, who was the chief administrator of Scottish Women's Hospitals in Serbia, where she set up one of the first local orphanages. Ms Haverfield died in Serbia in 1919 and was posthumously awarded the highest state honours.
Captain Flora Sandes, the only British woman to bear arms in the First World War, features on the stamps as she became an officer in the Serbian Army.
Originally from Yorkshire, she remained in Belgrade and also served during the Second World War and was awarded the highest Serbian military medal for her contribution.
A spokesman for the British Embassy said: "As well as remembering their service to the war, the embassy's campaign has been highlighting the values of these women such as universal suffrage, solidarity, social and gender equality to help build strong relationships with leaders and communities in Serbia.
"The stamps launched today feature six iconic women - Scots Evelina Haverfield, Dr Elsie Inglis, Dr Elizabeth Ross, Dr Katherine MacPhail and Dr Elmslie Hutton, and from England Captain Flora Sandes, whose war efforts are still celebrated in communities across Serbia."
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