The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps) (FANY (PRVC)) is a British independent all-female

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

structured like a military reserve unit. which primarily provides surge relief to civil and military authorities in an emergency. It was formed in 1907 and was active in both nursing and intelligence work during the World Wars. While its members wear British military-style uniforms and ranks, as well as having a close affiliation to the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, it is not part of the Regular Army, or Army Reserve, nor is it part of any branch of the Armed Forces, its members are designated as

civilian A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is war crime, illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civi ...

s. Their officers do not train at Sandhurst nor do they hold the King's commission. Its members are unpaid volunteers who pay membership fees to the charity to take part in training and qualifications.

History

It was formed as the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry in 1907 as a

first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with a medical emergency, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery until medical services arrive. First aid is gener ...

link between the

field hospital A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities. This term was initially used in military medicine (such as the Mobile ...

s and the front lines, and was given the '

yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units and sub-units in the British Army Reserve which are descended from volunteer cavalry regiments that now serve in a variety of different roles. History Origins In the 1790s, following the ...

' name as its members were originally mounted on horseback. Unlike nursing organisations, the FANY saw themselves rescuing the wounded and giving first aid, similar to a modern

combat medic A combat medic is responsible for providing emergency medicine, emergency medical treatment at a point of wounding in a combat or training environment, as well as primary care and health protection and evacuation from a point of injury or illnes ...

. Their founder, Sergeant Major, later Captain, Edward Baker, a veteran of the Sudan Campaign and the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

, felt that a single rider could get to a wounded soldier faster than a horse-drawn ambulance. Each woman was trained not only in first aid but also in signalling and drilling in cavalry movements. The original uniform was a scarlet tunic with white facings, a navy-blue

riding skirt A riding habit is women's clothing for horseback riding. Since the mid-17th century, a formal habit for riding sidesaddle usually consisted of: * A tailored jacket with a long skirt (sometimes called a petticoat) to match * A tailored shirt ...

with three rows of white braid at the bottom and a hard-topped scarlet hat with black-leather peak. The uniform gradually became more practical and less flamboyant, including importantly, a divided skirt to allow public riding astride. By 1914 it consisted of a khaki tunic, khaki skirt and a khaki solar topee. Shortly after their arrival in France, at the beginning of the First World War, the topee was discarded in favour of a soft bonnet, the hard topee proving impractical for driving an ambulance with a low canvas roof. Early leaders of the FANY included Grace McDougall and

Lilian Franklin Lilian Annie Margueretta Franklin OBE (1882 – 8 January 1955), known as "Boss", was the British commanding officer of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) until 1932. She took the organisation of six volunteers to organise hospitals and nurs ...

, "The Boss".

First World War

On 27 October 1914, their offer of assistance as paramedics having been refused by the War Office, a party of six FANYs, including Lieutenants Franklin and McDougall, plus three trained nurses and two male orderlies, crossed to Calais. They were shortly followed by a privately funded motor ambulance. The Belgian Army welcomed them with open arms and for the next two years the FANYs drove ambulances, opened a hospital and two convalescent homes and set up a casualty clearing station near the Front. Observing this, British official resistance crumbled, and on 1 January 1916 the FANY became the first women to drive officially for the British Army, with the establishment of an ambulance section at Calais. The role for the British was to transport the dead and dying from clearing stations to hospitals and hospital ships. This was followed by the formation of several convoys for the French Army, stationed in the southern sector of the Front, near Verdun. By the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

, the Corps had been awarded many decorations for bravery, including 17

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the British Armed Forces, armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, below commissioned o ...

s, 1

Legion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

and 27

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

. Although a number of FANYs were injured while serving in France, there was only one death; Evelyn Fidgeon Shaw CdeG died while serving with the French and was buried by them with full military honours in Sézanne. McDougall wrote an anonymous 1917 account of her experiences ''Nursing Adventures: A FANY in France'', retitled ''A Nurse at War: Nursing Adventures in France'' for America. In 1919 Pat Beauchamp wrote a book titled ''Fanny Goes to War'' about her experiences serving with the Corps during the First World War. Evelyn Shaw Grave

''The Coffin Jump'' installation at the

Yorkshire Sculpture Park The Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) is an art gallery, with both open-air and indoor exhibition spaces, in West Bretton, Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It shows work by British and international artists, including Henry Moore and Barb ...

was inspired by the work of the FANY during the First World War.

Inter-war years

Being independent and self financing, the FANY was not disbanded after the First World War, unlike the women's services. As a result of service in the general strike of 1926, when the name was briefly changed to Ambulance Car Corps (FANY), the Corps was finally recognised by the War Office and allowed to appear on the Army list, although not publicly funded. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s FANYs continued training, including radio work, first aid, and motor vehicle maintenance and mechanics. Numbers grew and several regional sections were established. In 1931 an independent unit of the Corps was set up in East Africa, known as The Women's Territorial Service (EA). This was the first overseas all-women unit to be formed. In 1937, wishing to move away completely from any assumed connection with formal nursing, the Corps became the Women's Transport Service (WTS (FANY)).

Second World War

At the start of the war the FANY was led by Mary Baxter Ellis who had served with the Corps during the First World War. Helen Gwynne-Vaughan was the first Chief Controller of the newly formed

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the World War II, Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existe ...

(ATS). This was a role that Ellis had turned down as she preferred to lead the FANY. Ellis agreed however to supply 1,500 FANY motor mechanics to serve with the ATS as long as these FANYs could be independent. This was agreed but Gwynne-Vaughan broke the agreement and forced the FANY/ATS to be absorbed into the territorial service. Ellis demurred, but won the agreement that these FANY/ATS would wear their FANY flash, a tradition dating back many years, with the chinstrap of their hats over the crown. An autonomous FANY HQ ran simultaneously in London. These members were known as the ‘Free FANYs', and they wore their uniform as of right. One better known role of the FANY in the Second World War is their service with the

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

. FANYs became involved in the SOE in 1940 through the friendship between Phyllis Bingham (secretary to the then Corps commander) and Colonel, later Major-General, Colin Gubbins (Director of Operations and Training SOE). The FANYs service began with their involvement in the highly secretive

Auxiliary Units The Auxiliary Units, Home Guard Shock Squads or GHQ Auxiliary Units were specially trained, highly secret quasi military units created by the British government during the Second World War with the aim of using irregular warfare in response to ...

set up in 1940 as a stay-behind force in case of invasion. By the end of the war over 3,000 FANYs had served with SOE; as trainers, coders, signallers, forgers, dispatchers, and, most famously, as agents. Recruits were trained in one of four fields: Motor transport, wireless telegraphy, codes or general. They worked on coding and signals, acting as conductors for agents and providing administration and technical support for the Special Training Schools. Their work was top secret and often highly skilled. Of the 50 women sent by SOE into France 39 were members of the FANY. Of these 39 women, 12 were murdered by the Nazis and one Corps member died in the field. Many decorations, of both the UK and other countries, were awarded to FANYs for their service and outstanding courage. Among these, four of the highest UK decorations were the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational Courage, gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, ...

awarded to Odette Hallowes (who was incarcerated and tortured, but survived the war), Violette Szabo and Noor Inayat Khan (these latter two perishing in captivity and decorated posthumously). Nancy Wake's awards included the

George Medal The George Medal (GM), instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI,''British Gallantry Medals'' (Abbott and Tamplin), p. 138 is a decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically ...

. Corps members operated in several theatres of war, including North Africa, Italy, India and the Far East. The FANY served the Finnish Government. A section was attached to the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

, based mainly in Linlithgow where they provided the Poles with uniforms, weapons, vehicles, equipment, food, administration services and drivers’ services. Corps members also provided the guard of honour at the funeral of General Wladyslaw Sikorski, who had gone up to Scotland several times to inspect his troops. A Kenyan section, formed in 1931, which was made the official East African unit by the War Office in August 1941, was very active during the war. This section took women from all over the southern half of Africa. Other FANYs were attached to the British Red Cross, the American Ambulance Corps and the French Committee for the French Red Cross. In 1944 another large group were deployed to the Indian subcontinent and the Far East with

South East Asia Command South East Asia Command (SEAC) was the body set up to be in overall charge of Allied operations in the South-East Asian Theatre during the Second World War. History Organisation The initial supreme commander of the theatre was General Sir ...

. Altogether over 6,000 FANYs served in the Second World War. Maud MacLellan, a FANY who served with the ATS during the war, taught the future Queen Elizabeth to drive. A memorial at St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge commemorates 52 named members who died on active service with the Corps in the First and Second World Wars, including 9 members who died when the SS ''Khedive Ismail'' was sunk by a Japanese submarine in 1944. FANYs are also commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial in Surrey.

Ranks of the Women's Transport Service

Below is a chart of WTS (FANY) ranks compared to the British Army.

Cold War and modern role

During the Cold War the FANY took on new roles including the provision of national communications support as part of 2 (National Communication) Signal Brigade. These were arrangements in place for ensuring the continuity of government in the event of a substantial attack on the United Kingdom. In such an eventuality, Corps members would have been required to assist the Brigade by deploying to one of a number of secret bunkers established around the country to house dispersed government. The FANY was officially renamed the Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps in 1999, after being given permission by

Anne, Princess Royal Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950) is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of King ...

to use her title, and is now referred to as FANY (PRVC). The original name has greater recognition, and greater prominence even in official publications and on its website. The Princess Royal became Commandant-in-Chief of the Corps in 1981, following the death of her great great aunt Princess Alice who was the Corps's first Commandant-in-Chief in 1933. Today, the Corps focuses on deploying specialist rapid response teams to support civil and military authorities at times of crisis. Most recently the Corps has been deployed in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, serving at

NHS Nightingale Hospital London The NHS Nightingale Hospital London was the first of the NHS Nightingale Hospitals, temporary hospitals set up by NHS England for the COVID-19 pandemic. It was housed in the ExCeL London convention centre in East London. The hospital was rapi ...

, the North London and Westminster Coroners, City of London Police and the National Emergencies Trust Coronavirus Appeal. Members train every week, and are on call 24/7 to help in times of national emergency. The Corps is open to volunteers between the ages of 18 and 45 who reside or work near London, within the M25. Members are trained in communications, first aid skills, map reading, navigation and orienteering, shooting, self-defence, survival techniques and advanced driving. They also conduct training with various military partners. Their working dress is similar to that of the modern

; on formal occasions they wear a uniform similar to historic female British Army Service Dress. They also have their own 'rank' system.

Ranks of FANY (PRVC)

Notable members

Lady Commandant of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry

* Enid Bagnold * Sadie Bonnell * Evelyn May Cridlan *

* Joan Bamford Fletcher * Beryl Hutchinson * Grace McDougall * Olive Mudie-Cooke * Muriel Thompson *

Lise de Baissac Lise Marie Jeanette de Baissac Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE Croix de Guerre, CdeG (11 May 1905 – 29 March 2004), code names ''Odile'' and ''Marguerite,'' was a Mauritian agent in the United Kingdom's clandesti ...

* Denise Bloch * Andree Borrel * Sonya Butt * Madeleine Damerment * Odette Hallowes * Noor Inayat Khan * Cecily Lefort * Vera Leigh * Maud MacLellan * Eileen Nearne * Jacqueline Nearne * Eliane Plewman * Lilian Rolfe * Yvonne Rudellat * Sue Ryder *

Krystyna Skarbek Maria Krystyna Janina Skarbek, (, ; 1 May 1908 – 15 June 1952), also known as Christine Granville, was a Polish agent of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War. She became celebrated for her daring exploi ...

* Violette Szabo * Nancy Wake * Pearl Witherington * Julia Pirie * Mary Railton

References

Works cited

* * *

External links

* * *
First hand account of being a member of FANY and collecting blood donations during the Second World War (video interview)
{{authority control 1907 establishments in the United Kingdom Health charities in the United Kingdom British women in World War I British women in World War II Female wartime nurses First aid organizations Military nursing Nursing organisations in the United Kingdom