The Friends Ambulance Unit

摘要

The Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU) was created in 1914 to provide pacifists with a viable, alternative war service. The FAU worked close to the fighting lines, it served combatants and civilians, and it was staffed with volunteers, most of whom would have described themselves as conscientious objectors. The brief history of the FAU in the First World War indicates some of the compromises and complexities involved in medical pacifism. Medical pacifist service in wartime requires a level of co-operation with government and with the armed forces, and pacifists were often troubled about the point at which compromise became collusion. Nevertheless, the unit worked successfully, in the sense that it aided numerous soldiers and civilians, throughout the First World War, keeping its autonomy from the military authorities. It re-grouped again in September 1939 to serve during the Second World War.