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the early months of the First World War, she left her life in rural Scotland to nurse wounded soldiers on the front line.

Now the remarkable testimony of Maggy Brander is to feature in a book marking the centenary of the war.

The young nurse from Huntly, Aberdeenshire, kept detailed diaries during her time in war-torn France between December 1914 and July 1918, extracts from which are published here for the first time.

Early entries offer a fascinating insight into the camaraderie among First World War medics, with fancy dress parties and gifts from home – even from Royals – providing some comfort from the horrors of battle.

However, as the brutal conflict raged on, selfless Miss Brander found herself worn down by the relentless loss of life and near-impossible working conditions.

Stationed at hospitals and casualty clearing stations just behind the front line and then on ambulance trains which transported the wounded back to the main hospitals on the French coast, she was faced with the effects of gassing, bullet wounds and bomb blasts.

Her final entries were written in the spring of 1917. There is no reason given for the abrupt ending but it is thought her final experiences were beyond words.

Back in Scotland, Miss Brander continued her vocation, working as matron of Arbroath Infirmary until her retirement in 1947.

She died the following year after contracting blood poisoning following abdominal surgery. Unmarried and childless, her diaries were passed to her younger brother and then to her great-nephew, Ron Brander.

Mr Brander, who lives in Huntly, has now gifted the unpublished artefact to the Scotland’s War project, where it will form part of a book on the often overlooked contribution of nurses during the war.

He said: ‘The description of the cases and the listing of numbers is very rare in diaries. Most people didn’t want to describe the gore of it – or just couldn’t.’

Yvonne McEwen, project director of the Lottery-funded scheme, said she was moved by the young nurse’s strength and experiences. She added: ‘There is no glossing over, Maggy was very direct. She was frank, she was funny and she was honest.’

While the sacrifice of the soldiers is well documented, Miss McEwen was keen to highlight the efforts of the thousands of nurses who risked their lives to save others.

She said: ‘By the end of the war the number of trained nurses had swelled to more than 23,000 but even that was barely adequate. There was one trained nurse per 150 casualties, they oversaw 635,000 military beds. It was an impossible task.’