The short war of a Quaker Ambulance Unit

The Society of Friends or Quakers is a small religious sect best known for its pacifism but less well known for the Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU) in World Wars I and II. On 27 September 1939, just 3 weeks after Britain declared war on Germany, the first 61 men of the Second World War FAU began their training and, in early November, they were posted to work in London hospitals which were preparing for air-raid casualties.

On 30 November 1939, Russia invaded eastern Finland, citing historical ownership of the land and the need to defend Leningrad only 30 km from the border beginning what became known as the ‘The Winter War’. Finland lacked allies and the Soviet Union (USSR) expected a quick victory. However, the Finns resisted fiercely and, by mid-December, the Soviets had lost 25 000 soldiers.

In Britain, public support for Finland was growing and over dinner one evening, a member of the FAU suggested they should go to Finland as an ambulance unit. After meeting the Joint War Committee of the British Red Cross to obtain authority to operate in war zones, they sent a telegram to the Finnish Red Cross: