Description
Object description
British conscientious objector served with Friends' Ambulance Unit attached to 3rd Medical Coy, 2nd Armoured Div, Free French Forces in French Morocco, GB, France and Germany, 1943-1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in GB, 1921-1943: childhood; family life in Buckinghamshire as son of Methodist minister; education; pacifist beliefs of parents; effect of First World War on own pacifism; political beliefs; further education at University of Cambridge, 1939-1940; first contacts with the anti-war movement and Friends' Ambulance Unit; effect of Second World War on pacifist beliefs; opinion of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policy; attitude to combating evil; question of not being considered a coward. Aspects of period as conscientious objector with Friends' Ambulance Unit in GB, 1943: wide variety of people in Friends' Ambulance Unit; mechanical, driving and medical training received; reason for brother's career in medicine; lack of hostility to status as conscientious objector.
REEL 2 Continues: effect of Second World War on pacifist beliefs; volunteering to serve with Free French Forces; opinion of Friends' Ambulance Unit drill training; language training; rank and privileges; story of unit member having psychological breakdown prior to departure overseas; relations with Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit. Aspects of period as member of Friends' Ambulance Unit attached to 3rd Medical Coy, French 2nd Armoured Div in French Morocco, 1943-1944: organisation of division and role with tank column; journey to Rabat via French Algeria; integration with French 3rd Medical Coy; problem of explaining pacifist beliefs to Free French troops; social life in Rabat; further comments on Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit. Aspects of period as member of with Friends' Ambulance Unit in GB, 4/1944-7/1944: return for further training to GB, 4/1944; training at Cottingham.
REEL 3 Continues: story about prostitutes in Cottingham; attitude of local people to status as conscientious objector. Recollections of period with Friends' Ambulance Unit attached to 3rd Medical Coy, 2nd Armoured Div, Free French Forces in France, 7/1944-8/1944: journey to Sainte-Mére-Église, France, 31/7/1944 including description of landing; problems in relation between French and Americans; reaction of French troops to landing on home soil; opinion of General Philippe Leclerc; story about Quakers in unit protesting to General Philippe Leclerc about French treatment of Germans; operations in Normandy, 7/8/1944-22/8/1944; story about Tom Newby straying into German lines and being allowed to return; ambulance work under artillery bombardment; problem of accidentally crossing over into German lines during battle; attitude to working with tanks; opinion of Red Cross; reaction to being under fire; problem of French not accepting German Army wounded; opinion of Germans; of advance towards Paris, 23/8/1944-24/8/1944.
REEL 4 Continues: entering Paris, 24/8/1944; threat of German Army snipers; reception on arrival in Paris; description of acts of retribution; first contacts between Friends' Ambulance Unit and French Society of Friends; problems encountered in occupied countries; attitude of local people to khaki uniforms worn by Friends' Ambulance Unit members; walking under Arc de Triomph, 26/8/1944; attitude to accepting medals including the Croix de Guerre; assessment of work with Friends' Ambulance Unit during Normandy Campaign. Recollections of operations with Friends' Ambulance Unit attached to 3rd Medical Coy, French 2nd Armoured Div in France and Germany, 9/1944-6/1945: description of Vosges Campaign, France, 9/1944-10/1944.
REEL 5 Continues: description of operations in Alsace and Lorraine, France, 11/1944; first death in Friends' Ambulance Unit; weather conditions during winter 1944-1945; liberation of Strasbourg, France, 23/11/1944; story about two conscientious objectors being released by Germans; question of impartiality as member of unit; period in reserve; Battle for Royan, 4/1945; advance towards Frankenthal, Germany, 4/1945; attitude of German civilians towards Friends' Ambulance Unit; role of unit in preventing acts of retribution against Germans; helping couple who had collaborated; move to Headquarters, Friends' Ambulance Unit in Gordon Square, London, GB, 6-9/1945. Reflections on period with Friends' Ambulance Unit: work with Free French Forces; opinion of Friends' Ambulance Unit China Convoy.
REEL 6 Continues: question of compromising pacifist beliefs during Second World War; receiving letter of appreciation from General Philippe Leclerc; effect of wartime experiences on life and beliefs; story of being appointed Headmaster at Leighton Park Quaker School, Reading, GB; attitude to spreading pacifist views; opinion of Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament; continuing contacts with Friends' Ambulance Unit; attitude to current international situation (1988).
