Description
Object description
British civilian conscientious objector served with Friends' Ambulance Unit in GB, 1939-1941; served with Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit in Lebanon, French Syria, North Africa, Italy and France, 1941-1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in GB, 1915-1939: Quaker family background in Bristol; family members' service with Friends' Ambulance Unit during First World War; granting of automatic entry into Friends' Ambulance Unit on outbreak of Second World War, 3/9/1939; importance of Quaker influence and family tradition of conscientious objection stance; problem of waiting list to join Friends' Ambulance Unit; fire-watching duties. Aspects of period as volunteer with Friends' Ambulance Unit in GB, 1939-1941: reaction to outbreak of Second World War and desire to undertake humanitarian work; comparison of Quakers with other conscientious objectors; training in training camp, 1940; attitude to wide range of backgrounds among Friends' Ambulance Unit personnel; reaction to first job in hospital; work at rest centre and fire-watching duties during German Air Force bombing campaign on London, 1940-1941; German bombing of family home in Bristol; work at rest centres and administrative duties in Coventry, Plymouth and Liverpool; background to joining the Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit, 1941. Recollections of period as volunteer with Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit in Lebanon, French Syria, North Africa, Italy and France, 1941-1945: journey to Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, 1941; description of hospital, nurses and drivers; duties in ward and as driver; relations with Lady Mary Spears.
REEL 2 Continues: opinion of Lady Mary Spears' appearance; relations with upper-class drivers; attitude of nurses to conscientious objectors; problem of relations between nurses and drivers; work with Friends' Ambulance Unit in Beirut, Lebanon and Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit in French Syria; move to North Africa, 1942; military situation; description of forward operating theatre at Bir Hakeim, Libya; duties in mobile operating theatres; problem of conditions in desert; treatment of casualties from Bir Hakeim and Tobruk, Libya; nature of German Air Force dive-bombing; question of Germans observing Red Cross and shelling of hospital at Monte Cassino, Italy, 1944; attitude to work with Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit; shuttle service for patients; opinion of efficiency of medical service in desert; wide range of civilian and military patients treated; relations between Friends' Ambulance Unit and Free French Forces.
REEL 3 Continues: attitude of Colonel Jean Vernier to Friends' Ambulance Unit; story of marriage to nurse Evelyn Fuhlroth in France, 1945; reaction of troops to sight of women in front line; amusing story about Lady Mary Spears arrival in Tobruk, Libya; attitude of wife Evelyn Cottrell to pacifism; question of scarcity of women in Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit; reflections on current pacifist beliefs; story about Steve Dennis leaving Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit to become an air gunner with Royal Air Force; story relating to Stephen Verney; opinion of quality of Friends' Ambulance Unit personnel; question of compromising pacifist beliefs with wartime service; attitude to religion and war; story of speaking out about tanks during Quaker meeting; story of giving blood for wounded in Italy and at Dunkirk, France; experiences during Battle of Cassino, Italy, 1944.
REEL 4 Continues: social activities in Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit; story about French singer Jean Sablon briefly joining unit; reaction of Free French Forces troops to landing on French soil, France, 1944; story of being given tea by couple shortly after marriage; duties in France, 5/1945-6/1945; Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit's participation in victory parade in Paris, France and reaction of General Charles de Gaulle; description of send-off for Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit, France, 6/1945; post-war reunions; attitude to being awarded Croix de Guerre and other medals; reflections on wartime service with Friends' Ambulance Unit and Hadfield-Spears Ambulance Unit.