ambulance-trains-bringing-first-world-war-home#who-worked-on-an-ambulance-train

MEET THE CREW

Owen Willis, Orderly

Owen was just 18 years old when he joined Home Ambulance Train 18 as an orderly in 1914. He lived and worked on board for the whole war. He worked hard to ensure the safety of his passengers and introduced measures to control disease on board. Owen was proud that no soldier who travelled with him died during his journey.

Image courtesy of the Willis family

Edmund Cooper, Orderly

As a Quaker, Edmund was morally opposed to military service. In 1915, aged 21, he joined the Friends' Ambulance Unit (FAU), a voluntary service staffed by conscientious objectors. The FAU ran four ambulance trains as a way to help the victims of war without taking part in the fighting.
Image courtesy of the family of Edmund Cooper

Nurses

These nurses in their starched uniforms pose for an official photograph in a ward car on continental ambulance train 18, August 1915.
Science Museum Group Collection

Kate Luard, Nurse

Kate had already seen action in the Boer War and was not fazed by ambulance train work. She wanted to get close to the front to care for some of the very worst casualties. Kate took the time to talk to her patients, and learned basic Hindustani to communicate with Indian passengers.
Image courtesy of the family of Kate Luard