Fanny Goes to War

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Non-Fiction 1919Summary:The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry was a female organisation formed in 1907. Its aim was not only to provide competent first aid on the battlefield put also to train its members to effectively operate and live independently and be able to transport the wounded to field hospitals. So F. A. N. Y nurses were skilled drivers or horsewomen and were often more than usually skilled in outdoor pursuits-such as camping-something that differentiated them from normal nursing staff. When the First World War began the organisation immediately volunteered itself for service on the continent, but was initially rebuffed by the British military establishment who, in the spirit of the times, believed a woman's place was at home and not at war. However, the Belgian and French authorities welcomed them with enthusiasm and the F. A. N. Ys became essential to allied servicemen both as medical carers and as ambulance drivers. Before long the resourceful women of the organisation, as well as providing their first aid and ambulance services, were running hospitals, soup kitchens and canteens and couriering food and clothing to the front lines. By 1915 the British army command came to recognise the value of these indomitable woman and began to work more closely with the organisation and by 1916 F. A. N. Ys were working in the field as mechanics.