From the archive: The FAU begins work
Janet Scott highlights the start of FAU work at the Front
In October 1914 tens of thousands of soldiers were making their way across the English Channel to fight on the Western Front. The Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU) had been established by this time and the first volunteers trained. Henry W Nevinson travelled to Dunkirk with the first party of volunteers. His account of the experience was published in the Friend.
‘From the very beginning we plunged into useful and vital work, more than enough to justify your organisation.
‘Hardly had we left Dover in the early dawn of Saturday, October 31st, when our activity began. About two-thirds on the way to Dunkirk, we came upon the Hermes foundering after a submarine attack. Two torpedoes struck her, at an interval of about twenty-five minutes, and the second rent such a hole in her side that she began slowly to settle down by the stern. Five destroyers had rushed to the scene and were taking off the crew in boats. The Invicta s.s., in which we were, also launched all boats, and at the call for volunteers to man them, I think every single one of our fellows responded, no matter whether he could row or not. It was typical of their zeal.
‘We brought large numbers on board, some unconscious from exposure and cold in the water. Under the direction of our surgeons we worked at bringing them round and succeeded in all cases but two…
‘We returned to Dover with the rescued crew, many dressed only in blankets, and then started a second time on our journey – a trying experience for the few among us who were down with sea-sickness.
‘It was quite dark before we put in at the Dunkirk quay, and our fellows had already worked hard enough for one day. But late in the evening they were called upon for a stiffer and more prolonged effort. Trains of wounded – chiefly French, but including a few Belgians, Turcos, Senegalese, and German wounded prisoners – were arriving from the terrible front in the Dixmunde-Ypres region, where the thunder of the guns never stops day or night. They were hastily deposited in two long sheds outside the Dunkirk station, some on mattresses, most on straw. In most cases, the wounds needed dressing or re-dressing. All the unfortunate men had to be moved from the trains to the sheds, and thence to a hospital ship as soon as one was ready to receive them, and the ships bore them away to the safe distance of Cherbourg.
‘Our party was once called upon by the French medical authorities to assist in the dressing and removals. They answered with the characteristic zeal that I have already noticed. There was no opportunity for arranging shifts. We had still no base, except the ship and quay, and pretty nearly the whole party worked all night, coming back only for an hour to two’s sleep, and all being roused again at 4 from the benches in the ship’s saloons, because the sheds had to be emptied to make room for other trains of wounded as they arrived. All that day the work continued without cessation…
‘That night, I confess, the fellows were just about done, having engaged in one salutary work or other for thirty-six hours, almost without a break…
‘The work was very trying even for our experienced surgeons and dressers. The sudden influx of thousands of wounded overwhelmed all preparations. The sheds were crowded to extremity, and dirt and confusion could not have been avoided even by the most carefully organised medical staff. Most of the men had been hastily attended to in advanced field hospitals, but many had been long on the journey, some had suffered for several days since they were wounded, and nearly all previous dressings had to be cut away so that the wound might be cleaned and redressed…
‘I will not describe the hideous nature of many of the wounds. If those who pretend to delight in war could but witness the result of man’s carnage, they would boast no more about military glory.
‘In the midst of these horrors our fellows worked on without losing heart or slackening for a moment in their efforts, – the surgeons operating in all possible cases, the dressers dressing, the bearers carrying the stretchers from the trains or to the ships…
‘I have never known a whole set of young fellows so keen, so resourceful.’
The Friend, 13 November 1914
