Description
Object description
British conscientious objector relief worker with Friends Ambulance Unit in London, GB, 1940-1944; served with Friends Ambulance Unit in El Khatatba Refugee Camp, Egypt, 3/1944-11/1944; secretary with United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) in Italy and Yugoslavia, 11/1944-5/1945; relief worker with Friends Ambulance Unit in Yugoslavia, 1945-1946
Content description
REEL 1 Background in GB, 1921-1937: family; childhood in London and Hampshire; problem of ill-health; father's Lieutenant-Colonel Edward de Renzy-Martin's military service and mother's Winifred de Renzy-Martin's work as a British Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse during First World War; education and religious beliefs; visit with father to First World War battlefields and cemeteries; visit to Germany, 1936 including attitude towards Nazi regime and anti-Semitism; awareness of living conditions and political situation during Depression.
REEL 2 Continues: death of mother Winifred de Renzy-Martin, 7/2/1937. Aspects of period as relief worker in Spain, 1937-1939: work in orphanage alongside father; father's employment as cypher clerk at British Embassy in Madrid; visits to prisons and role in prisoner exchanges during Spanish Civil War. Aspects of period as student at Somerville College, University of Oxford in GB, 1939-1940: joining Somerville College, Oxford, 10/1939; story of brother's experiences with military; reason for leaving university. Aspects of training as nurse at Kewstoke Hospital, Weston-super-Mare in GB, 1940: description of training as nurse with British Red Cross; obtaining nursing position at Kewstoke Hospital.
REEL 3 Continues: description of hospital and patients; opinion of matron and surgeons; story of leading protest by nursing staff, 11/1940. Recollections of period as relief worker and secretary with Friends Ambulance Unit in London, GB, 1940-1944: initial contact with Friends Ambulance Unit; question of women not being allowed to join organisation; work at air raid shelters in Wapping and Stepney; pacifist beliefs and attitude to anti-war movement; meeting Margaret Sheppard daughter of the Reverend Dick Sheppard; investing money in International Paints; nature of work at air raid shelters in Wapping and Stepney; reason for starting smoking; attitude of air raid wardens to her pacifist beliefs.
REEL 4 Continues: comparison between Jewish and Irish shelters around Cable Street, Tower Hamlets; problem of sexual harassment during work with Friends Ambulance Unit; memories of life during German Air Force bombing campaign; attitude towards Germans; opinion of British Government propaganda and precautions; story of helping elderly ladies with gas masks; appearance before tribunal, 1943; statement of beliefs and help received from father; attitude to moral courage shown by conscientious objectors and refusal to join the armed services.
REEL 5 Continues: secretarial duties in air raid shelters and at Headquarters, Friends Ambulance Unit in Gordon Square, London; description of hospital work in London and relations with other staff; volunteering for medical trials; further comments on tribunal and type of questions; attending mechanics course at Hackney Institute; reaction to loss of Friends Ambulance Unit members Tom Tanner and Peter Hume, when SS Ceramic was sunk by German submarine U-515 in North Atlantic, 7/12/1942; problem of illness preventing working in India; increase in number of women in Friends Ambulance Unit; pay structure; attitude to wide range of social classes in Friends Ambulance Unit.
REEL 6 Continues: attitude to influence of Quakers in Friends Ambulance Unit; importance of working for Friends Ambulance Unit; preparations for overseas service, 1944; journey to Liverpool. Aspects of voyage aboard HMT Stratheden from GB to Egypt, 2/1944-3/1944: living conditions and accommodation on board; lifeboat drills; threat of attack; disembarkation at Port Said, Egypt. Recollections of period as relief worker with Friends Ambulance Unit at El Khatatba Refugee Camp in Egypt, 3/1944-11/1944: arrival at Maadi Camp; move to El Khatatba Refugee Camp; preparations for arrival of Yugoslav refugees; accommodation for staff and refugees; problem of tents being stolen; question of racist attitudes towards Egyptian population; relations between British Army and Friends Ambulance Unit; story about Arnold Curtis requesting more money from Headquarters, Friends Ambulance Unit, Gordon Square, London; other relief agencies working in camp; arrival of first refugees; problem of language and reason for learning Serbo-Croat language; how refugees organised their own committee along quasi-Communist lines; description of camp; climate; water supplies; story of getting lost in desert at night; condition of refugees on arrival; opinion of reception process for refugees; story of putting paraffin on women's heads; opinion of accommodation.
REEL 7 Continues: further details on learning Serbo-Croat language; story of concert put on by Yugoslav refugees; relations between British Army personnel and refugees; attitude of British troops to Americans in Egypt; daily routine and duties in camp; story about Jewish shopkeeper; opinion of Yugoslav refugee committee; relations with refugees; story of sharing bunch of roses with refugees; attitude towards Communism; educational facilities in camp; child care and hygiene classes; opinion of Jewish Relief Unit; problem of suitable footwear for refugees; opinion of American clothing distribution for refugees; opinion of food.
REEL 8 Continues: physical condition of refugees on arrival in camp; story of measles epidemic; role of Friends Ambulance Unit in camp; liaison role with Yugoslav committee; opinion of Arnold Curtis; relations between male and female members of Friends Ambulance Unit; story of beggar; sharing pacifist beliefs with British NCO; obtaining embroidery material for refugee women; return to Maadi Camp, 11/1944; training on truck driving and maintenance; joining Friends Ambulance Unit from El Shatt Refugee Camp; relations between Friends Ambulance Unit and Americans; story of meeting future husband; work spraying DDT on people and houses in Egyptian villages; problem of contracting diseases; moved to Bari, Italy, 11/1944. Recollections of period as relief worker with United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) in Italy, 11/1944-2/1945: first contacts with organisation; obtaining secretarial post with United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) in Yugoslavia; problem of gaining entry to Yugoslavia; work with refugees at Forte Aurelia, Rome; living conditions in Italy; opinion of officers and NCOs.
REEL 9 Continues: work with refugees and United States Joint Distribution Committee; language problem; attitude to Jewish refugees; comparison of effects of deprivation on poor and wealthy; opinion of Americans in Italy; moved to Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 2/1945. Recollections of period with United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) in Yugoslavia, 2/1945-5/1945: restocking Pasteur Institute with guinea pigs; problem of unpaid work and finding accommodation; initial impressions of Yugoslavia and relations with Yugoslav Partisans; story of attending trial of Draža Mihailović in Belgrade, 6/1946-7/1946; opinion of post-war elections in Yugoslavia; sight of Josip Tito during Victory Parade in Belgrade; plastic surgeon Sir Harold Gillies treatment of wounded partisans. Aspects of period as relief worker with Friends Ambulance Unit in Yugoslavia, 1945-1946: rejoining Friends Ambulance Unit in Split, 5/1945; delivery of food and medical supplies; story relating to German prisoners of war.