Description
Object description
British civilian conscientious objector served with Friends' Ambulance Unit in GB, Belgium and Germany, 1943-1947
Content description
REEL 1 Background in GB, 1924-1939: family; childhood in Harrow and Guildford; uncle's stance as conscientious objector during First World War; attitude of family to pacifism; education; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Aspects of period as conscientious objector in GB, 1939-1943: registering as conscientious objector and reaction of family and friends, 1942; attitude to first Tribunal, 10/1942; opinion of treatment of conscientious objectors during First World War; description of Tribunal at Great Portland Street, London, 10/1942; reaction to being sent to Non-Combatant Corps; attending appeal Tribunal and role of Central Board for Conscientious Objectors.
REEL 2 Continues: further details on Tribunals and role of Central Board for Conscientious Objectors; reason for volunteering for ambulance work; attitude to types of war work undertaken; work at Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford, 1/1943. Aspects of period with Friends' Ambulance Unit in GB, 5/1943-12/1944: joining Friends' Ambulance Unit, 5/1943; training in Birmingham; pay.
REEL 3 Continues: work at Hammersmith Hospital, London, 6/1943; participation in experiments on acclimatisation to tropical conditions; driver and vehicle maintainence training at Bristol; attitude to working overseas; description of fire watching duties, 1944; journey with Friends' Ambulance Unit convoy from Tilbury to Ostend, Belgium, 12/1944. Recollections of period as conscientious objector with Friends' Ambulance Unit in Belgium and Germany, 1944-1947: treating German V1 Flying Bomb and V2 Rocket casualties in Antwerp, Belgium, 12/1944.
REEL 4 Continues: transfer to Section 6; work in front line areas in Belgium and Germany; attitude to battle conditions and casualties; amusing story about nuns; refusal to obey military non-fraternisation regulations; relations between British Army and Friends' Ambulance Unit; problem of poor road conditions; attitude towards Germans; crossing the River Rhine, Germany; living conditions for German civilians; opinion of Operation Varsity, the crossing of River Rhine, Germany; relief work with former prisoners of war and Displaced Persons; attitude to repatriation policy; move to Sande Displaced Persons Camp, Germany; description of camp and inmates; problem of drunken Soviet Displaced Persons in camp; delousing procedure; story of officer eating DDT pancake to prove it was safe.
REEL 5 Continues: attitude of Allied authorities to cases of rape; relations between Friends' Ambulance Unit and Allied Military Government; attitude towards female members of Friends' Ambulance Unit; relief work in Oldenberg and in Polish occupied Delmenhorst Displaced Persons Camp, Germany; description of secret camps for White Russians; attitude to forced repatriations; aiding two hundred Polish Displaced Persons escape repatriation; opinion of repatriation system; reason for Displaced Persons fearing repatriation; attitude to treatment of Poles; opinion of Yalta Agreement and policy of forced repatriation; relations with Russian population in Germany; description of Operation Eagle, 10/1945-12/1945.
REEL 6 Continues: role of Friends' Ambulance Unit in Operation Eagle, 10/1945-12/1945; route from Hamburg to Stettin, Germany; description of transit camp at Dessau, Germany; reason for nickname 'Eagle Open'; morale within Section 6; further comments on attitude to policy of forced repatriation; story of two Friends' Ambulance Unit members being arrested by Soviets during Operation Eagle; role of Friends' Ambulance Unit in helping distribute 'Pacific Packs' to German mothers.
REEL 7 Continues: description of 'Pacific Packs' and method of distribution; scheme to provide German allotment holders with British seeds; organising rations for old people's home; role in compiling report on safety and accident rates in German factories; problem of food wasted by British Army; story of feeding babies on surplus rations at Dessau Displaced Persons Camp, Gemany; story of meeting future German wife Inge and marriage, 1947; opinion of Friends' Ambulance Unit contribution to post-war relief situation in Germany; opinion of behaviour of British Army troops to Displaced Persons; effect of wartime experiences and International Military Tribunals at Nüremberg on pacifist beliefs; post-war career as engineer; reflections on stance as conscientious objector during Second World War.
REEL 8 Continues: further reflections on war, religion and pacifist beliefs.