THEIR WORK

Evening Post, Volume XCI, Issue 137, 10 June 1916, Page 10

THEIR WORK

tojA§gSiS*Cs T THB FIELD. CpNSGLEIfriOUS OBJECTORS MET.

* MrVPeryy Alden, M.P., sometime head of Mansfield House in -the East End of I/ondon,'' a centre of university social activity, afso editor of va.rious ultraLiberal publications at different times, is in the States in> connection with work of tho Friends at the front.

In the course of an interview with the New York Evening Post," Mr. Alden said : " Shortly after the war began a group of the younger members o/ the Society of Friends, whose conscientious principles prevented them from enlisting as soldiers, felt that they must, do something to help their country and their allies. Thny came to me and asked my aid in getting them permission to send out an ambulance unit to Servia. Just when the Servian Government expressed its willingness to receive such a unit, a state of affairs developed in that part of Belgium which was not occupied by the Germans which gave an even more fertile field for work nearer at home

TESTED IN THE CHANNEL.

" Tho volunteers had already established a camp in England where they were trained in the duties with wiiich they would have to cope oh the firing line. The first unit to leave this camp consisted of forty-five men, three doctors, and seven ambulances. It had no sooner left the JJnglish shores when it was called upon "to meet its first test: the ship upon which it was sailing to Dunkirk was close to the British warship Hermes when she struck a mine and wa.s blown up. The ambulance men rendered a great service in. rescuing the crew, several of the Quakers diving overboard and saving wounded sailors ■who would otherwise have drowned.

"Dunkirk was selected ' for the base hospital and has since then continued as suchi During the months which have followed the original unit has grown to about 600 men, 36 women, 123 ambulances, a hospital ship, the Western Australia, with 300 beds; three hospital trains, and a floating barge hospital on ; one of the canals near Ypres. Additional I hospitals have been established at various points in Flanders and a large one is in. operation at York, England, whence the patients aTe brought on the hospital ship. Some idea of the activities of the unit can be seen in the statistics compiled to the end of last March. The ambulances, for instance^ had carried 60,000 wounded and sick soldiers up to that time, and the hospital 'trains over 40,000. QUALITY OF THE ME2T "Although our men have not been of the kind to flinch from duty wherever it might take them, we have been extremely fortunate in the very small number of losses among our • workers. Our hospital at Ypres. for example, twice had to be evacuated under very heavy shellfire, but the casualties have been few. We first worked with the Belgians, then with the French, and now we are under British supervision. All three and the Red Cross unite in saying that the Friends' Unit is composed of some of the best men they have had to deal with. "W6 are expecting at least another 500 men to enlist in the Unit because of the Conscription Act. When a Quaker appears before one of the tribunals which have been formed to sit on the cases of individual qualifications for service in the Army, he can state his conscientious scruples against fighting, and can ask to be referred to the unit. Many are already doing this. The ne&d is so great that we can use all-themeh we can get in. this way, but.the.cost of operation naturally mounts with the increase in the unit. As we are dependent on voluntary subscriptions, it has been necessary to extend the scope of our appeal to tliis country." *

Besides this work among the wounded soldiers, Mr. Aiden continued, the Quakers are doing important work through their Aide Civile Beige it) -helping the civilians still living in tho triangle of Flanders which has not been occupied by the Germans. Canteens and lace workshops have been established in thirty villages, giving employment to 1500 women. An efficient sanitary service has been organised, and is making every effort to ensure a pur© water supply. Twelve milk depots are operated for children. Doctors from the Ambulance Unit liave innoculated 27,000 persons' against typhoid, and 7000 civilians have been out-patients at the hospitals and dressing stations. All these activities are supplemental to the great problem, of feeding and clothing the civilian population and of seeing that the orphans are properly taught and cared for.