Quakers during the First World War 

My name is Roderick and I have recently taken over the role of Quaker Chaplain to Birmingham University. Quaker is a nickname for the Religious Society of Friends; so Quakers are also commonly known as “Friends“.

I have been a volunteer in St. John Ambulance since 1980 and I started attending Quaker meetings in 2000 where I discovered there was another volunteer ambulance service called the Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU).  The Friends Ambulance Unit ran from 1914 up to 1919 and was revived during the Second World War. We would have noticed that 11 November was a day of remembrance for all people who died in the two World Wars. Some wear red poppies, some white, some both; the red started because of the poppies that grew on the battle fields and the now-becoming more popular white poppy is a symbol of peace.

At the start of the First World War all recruiting was voluntary and the FAU was formed under the auspices of the Red Cross and the order of St. John of Jerusalem, becoming a group of volunteers going over to France and Belgium, transporting wounded to and from hospital and the front lines.

When conscription was introduced in January 1916 males would be called up to join the army and go to war. You would be trained to shoot and kill. The dilemma now was, “Could I kill anybody?” The solution was to become a Conscientious Objector. You would register, go before tribunals and offered alternative non-combative work, such as the FAU, or face imprisonment, even execution. This dilemma was faced by many families and individuals. Some were sentenced to face a firing squad and taken out to be shot but reprieved at the very last minute, then sent to prison. How cruel and frightening that must have been!

A well-known Birmingham family, the Cadburys, had two sons: Bertie and Laurence. Both joined the war effort: Bertie became a minesweeper and later a pilot who shot down two zeppelin air ships; and Laurence took himself and his car off to war joining the FAU. Both of their attitudes changed. Bertie became more critical of the military and Laurence more supportive of the war.

The FAU was not without its issues: they were at one time asked, after bringing back injured soldiers to the hospitals, to then carry ammunition back to the front line. This they refused to do - even some Quakers thought that by volunteering for the FAU you would be supporting the war effort by freeing up more men to fight.

Hopefully, in the future this is a dilemma we will not have to face: to fight or not to fight. What would you decide?  So when we attend our next Remembrance Day service; whatever colour poppy you wear remember that not all people who had their lives taken were soldiers: many were non-combative person and innocent civilians. Keep them in our thoughts.

In Friendship,

Roderick Keefe – Quaker Chaplain

Colleges

Professional Services