Mary Elizabeth Phillips was the first woman to qualify as a doctor from Cardiff University College at the turn of the century and became known as Mary 'Eppynt' Phillips, taking the name of the mountain near where she was born in Merthyr Cynog, near Brecon. This telegram signalled her first involvement in the First World War as she was requested by the Scottish Women's Hospital for Foreign Service, to travel to Calais to assist at the newly-established hospital there. The telegram was sent on the 8th of December and she was in Calais by Christmas Day. She then went on to serve in hospitals across Europe including in Serbia, Malta and Corsica.