Clifford Barnard was a conscientious objector in the second world war. He joined the Friends Ambulance Unit and worked in Germany where was part of the team that relieved Sandbostel concentration camp in 1945.

Binding the Wounds of War: A young relief worker’s letters home 1943-47 has just been published. It contains a selection of his letters during his time with the FAU

Introduction
The Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU) was established at the start of the first world war (1914-1918) by a group of Quakers and became a form of alternative service for conscientious objectors. It was financially and constitutionally independent of the London Yearly Meeting. They wore khaki uniforms, with distinctive FAU badges, and were allowed to enter war zones. The FAU ran hospitals in France and Belgium, worked on hospital trains and ships and helped emergency needs of civilians and refugees. It was disbanded after the war.

In 1939 the FAU was re-established by some members who had served with it in the first world war. In the following six years 5,000 men and women applied to join and 1,300 were accepted. Seventeen lost their lives while serving. Members of the FAU teams were all registered conscientious objectors of military age, with one or two exceptions.

The unit’s purpose in Germany was to devote all available resources to the urgent task of emergency relief; to demonstrate to the authorities the value of voluntary effort in relief work; and to pave the way for later activities of the Religious Society of Friends.

Members were first trained in Britain, often working in hospitals, before being sent to Europe and elsewhere.

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