Description
Object description
British conscientious objector served with Friends Ambulance Unit in GB, 1941-1943; nurse served with Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit in GB and French Syria, 1943-1944; served with Hadfield-Speards Ambulance Unit, 1st Free French Div in Italy and France, 4/1944-6/1945; member of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War in GB, 1984-1987
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of period in Wallasey and London, GB, 1916-1939: family background; childhood in Wallasey; significance of being born in 1916; early interest in war and influences on pacifist beliefs; effect on anti-war stance of watching film 'Forgotten Men' (1933); opinion of speakers at congregational services in Liverpool Anglican Cathedral; story of moving to London and signing the Peace Pledge, 1937; strength of pacifist feeling among young people during 1930s; participation in march with Donald Soper along Oxford Street; memories of the Munich Crisis, 9/1938; attitude to stance as conscientious objector. Aspects of period as conscientious objector in GB, 1939-1941: reaction to declartion of Second World War, 3/9/1939; reaction to labelling as 'tentative pacifist'; registering as a conscientious objector and attending tribunal; direction into non-combatant work; applying to join Friends Ambulance Unit and being put on long waiting list; period spent with brothers in the Black Mountains. Aspects of period as conscientious objector in GB, 1941-1943: start of training with Friends Ambulance Unit Training Camp at Manor Farm, Northfield, Birmingham; attitude of Quakers to Friends Ambulance Unit; rejection of appeal and working at Orpington Hospital, Orpington until call-up for military service.
REEL 2 Continues: further details of appeal; work at Orpington Hospital, Orpington and Gloucester City General Hospital, Gloucester; reason for turning down offer to work with fire service in Gloucester; call-up for military service into British Army and refusal to wear military uniform; opinion of conditions during three month imprisonment; hospitalisation with scabies and release from military service; writing letter to War Office about living conditions in Huyton Camp; further appeal tribunal in London and support received from Richard Wainwright; discharge from British Army and return to hospital work with Friends Ambulance Unit; opinion of Quakers; attitude of Nazis to Quakers. Aspects of period as nurse with Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit in GB, 1943: reasons for volunteering for the Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit.
REEL 3 Continues: description of uniform and special training including French language instruction; relations between Hadfield Spears Ambulance Unit and Free French Forces; French, British and Friends Ambulance Unit components in Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit; journey from GB to Port Tewfik, Egypt, 1943. Aspects of period as nurse with Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit in French Syria, 1943-1944: reason for choosing to work in French Syria; work in clinic at Latakia; types of diseases treated; attitude to treatment of women. Recollections of period as nurse with Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit, 1st Free French Div in Italy, 4/1944-8/1944: joining unit in Bizerta, Tunisia under Michael Rowntree; journey to Naples; relations with Free French Forces; living conditions in Naples; moved into Monte Cassino sector, 5/1944; incident putting up tents in front of heavy artillery unit; description of artillery barrage, 11/5/1944.
REEL 4 Continues: work in resuscitation tent during Battle of Monte Cassino, 5/1944; advance of mobile hospital with troops of 1st French French Div after German retreat; attitude to location of hospital tents in front of artillery positions; description of terrain and living conditions at Monte Cassino; question of treating all wounded alike; attitude to being part of military machine; story relating to doctor during artillery shelling of hospital; off duty sheltering in ditches; attitude to being involved in action and effect on pacifist beliefs; relations with troops; relations between Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit and French Expeditionary Corps; story of being first British unit to enter Rome, 6/1944; Quaker protests about stealing wine from Count Ciano's house; move to Lake Bolsena; problem of booby-trapped corpses; recall to Naples to prepare for Allied invasion of Southern France. Aspects of period as nurse with Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit, 1st Free French Div in France, 1944-1945: journey to Fréjus; setting up first aid post prior to landing; attitude of troops of 1st Free French Div to landing on French soil; problem of drunkenness; reception in Rhône Valley; attitude to treatment of collaborators in Lyon following liberation.
REEL 5 Continues: description of French female collaborators having heads shaved; pursuit of Germans up Rhone Valley; description of German stand at Belfort Gap and operations in Hohwald area; mobile nature of unit; problem of heavy drinking in unit; incident of accidentally walking into German lines; description of uniform; morale towards end of Second World War; attitude to work with unit; reaction to death of patient and return to GB on leave; disbandment of unit, 6/1945; attitude of General Charles de Gaulle to participation of Hadfield Spears Ambulance Unit in victory parade in Paris, 6/1945; send off from Dieppe; attitude to taking part in victory parade in Paris; reflections on serving with Hadfield Spears Ambulance Unit; question of elitist image of unit; memories of two songs sung in unit. Aspects of period as journalist and peace activist in GB, 1945-1984: attending further tribunal and attitude of panel to wartime service, 1945.
REEL 6 Continues: further comments on post-war tribunal; background to becoming medical journalist; involvement with Medical Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons (MCANW); story of writing article for British Medical Association Journal News Review, 1981; description of visit to Soviet Union to meet Soviet doctors, 1983. Recollections of period as member of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) in GB, 1984-1987: role in setting up organisation, 1984-1985; reaction to organisation being awarded Nobel Peace Prize, 1985; response to criticism of organisation as tool of Soviet propaganda; story of meetings with President Mikhail Gorbachev; role in promoting comprehensive Test Ban Treaty; nature of work with East/West relations including involvement with aftermath of Chernobyl disaster.
REEL 7 Continues: story of post-Chernobyl visit to Soviet Union with doctors and Channel 4 documentary team; attitude to importance of medical exchanges between countries.
