NO PLACE FOR C.O'S

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 49, 26 August 1941, Page 6

NO PLACE FOR C.OS

ST. JOHN AMBULANCE

RELATIONS WITH THE ARMY

(P.A.) CHRISTCHURCH, August 25. "There is no place in the St. John Ambulance Brigade for men who are not prepared to give service to their country in wartime," said Major J. W. Cramp ton,. assistant commissioner in charge of the St. John Ambulance Brigade in Canterbury and Westland, when making a statement today on the ! question of conscientious objectors doing ambulance service. "There are no conscientious objectors in the brigade and if any members should term themselves conscientious objectors, it is only a recent development." Major Crampton said he was mak- \ ing his statement because of certain j statements made before armed forces appeal boards. Conscientious objectors were being asked if they were willing to do service in the St. John Ambulance Brigade. As a result officers in charge of divisions throughout Can- { terbury and on the West Coast had stated that a number of conscientious objectors had been offering themselves for enlistment in the brigade. The fact that all members of the brigade were required on enlistment to give an undertaking that they were willing to serve at home or abroad in co-operation with" medical units of the armed forces was emphasised by Major Crampton. He said that the purpose of the brigade was to enrol a body of civilians qualified in first aid and trained in ambulance drill and nursing, who were willing to be placed at the disposal of the Armed Forces as a supplement to the public medical services in cases of emergency at home or abroad. There was provision in the manuals of the Royal Army Medical Corps for the Army to make use of the service of the Ist St. John Ambulance in conjunction with its medical units. Major Crampton mentioned that there was a division of Seventh Day Adventists serving in the brigade, but, though members were unwilling to take human life, they had subscribed to the undertaking and were willing to serve with medical units of the Armed Forces overseas.