aid to the sick and wounded in war. The War Office, which in the past had been somewhat embarrassed by casual offers of similar help from private individuals, undertook that, in the future, all such offers, other than the supply of certain personnel, should reach them only through the channel of the B..R.C.S., which accordingly began its task under powerful auspices. But it was not at first easy to interest the necessary numbers of people in proceedings depending for fruition on a contingency which most of them believed to be remote. The advance of science, also, together with modern ideas of humanity, had naturally resulted in the creation of an efficient army medical service, possessed of its own military hospitals and nurses, as well as complete equipment for the transport and treatment of wounded men. It was uncertain, therefore, what scope there would be for only partially trained helpers, even if there should be another great war in the future. The formation of the Territorial Force in 1908 provided a solution of the difficulty. Being a volunteer body called into existence for the purpose of home defence, its medical department was not such as would be self-sufficing in a campaign. The War Office accordingly invited the British Red Cross to apply itself to the formation of what are now known as Voluntary Aid Detachments, both of men and women, for service in connexion with the Territorial Force. The members of these detachments were to be prepared by in- struction in first aid, sanitation, nursing, ambulance, cooking and other work, and to make provisional arrangements in respect of transport and temporary hospitals for the assistance of regular medical units during military operations in Great Britain. When war broke out in 1914, the B.R.C.S. and the Order of St. John, which was also engaged in organizing V.A.D.'s, had between them 2,374 detachments with a personnel of 70,352. Before the Armistice they numbered 4,083 with a personnel of 125,993. The original idea of the V.A.D. provid- ing supplementary aid to the Territorial medical service was, owing to the exigencies of a European war, thrown into tempo- rary abeyance. Their usefulness, however, was quickly adjusted to the necessities of the hour. They turned to excellent account the arrangements already made in accordance with the War Office scheme, and took a leading part in the transport and reception into auxiliary hospitals of the wounded.
But although the British Red Cross owed to the V.A.D. the advantage of having been able to enroll and educate voluntary workers in time of peace, its main object extended much farther afield. The root idea of the Red Cross is that whatever it , can do to save the life or limb of a wounded soldier, or to alleviate ' his suffering, it is willing to do, without question, whenever and wherever its assistance can be usefully employed; and whatever I can be provided to cheer or comfort him, in addition to what j the taxpayer supplies, it will provide so long as its funds permit. , On the other hand, the medical service of the army exists in order to do all that is reasonably necessary for its patients. That service may fail under stress, as may the army itself; but in principle it does not admit that voluntary aid is indispensable, except in so far as some of it may avoid the necessity for com- pulsory measures. No doubt, however, arises in connexion with additional comforts. Common sense draws the line be- tween what a Government can be expected to give its wounded men, and what luxury, which must be left to spontaneous gener- osity on the part of the public acting through the Red Cross. The ostensible appeal of the British Red Cross was therefore for funds to enable the sick and wounded to be given comforts which they would not otherwise receive. But in practice a large part of Red Cross expenditure never strictly meets this description, and much but not all of it relies for defence on the ground that it has been the means of saving life. Thus, the Red Cross war library, which during the war provided over 5,000,000 books for hospitals, etc., and the 2,800 Red Cross work parties and depots, in so far as the articles they produced were not among those in army schedules, may be described as pure Red Cross efforts. But the ambulance launches sent to Mesopotamia for the transport of wounded, though they saved innumerable lives and their cost probably yielded better results, pound for pound,
than any other department of Red Cross work, were nearer the dividing line which separates the field of Red Cross activities from what should be army work. These launches alone carried 414,000 passengers and travelled 683,000 m., while at the various seats of war and in the British Isles Red Cross motor ambulance cars moved 10,000,000 sick and wounded cases. Yet, in fact, the transport of wounded, on which considerably more than 2,- 000,000 were expended by the Red Cross, was not strictly Red Cross work. It is the business of the army to clear up its own battle-fields at its own cost and take the wounded to hospital. Nevertheless, the enormous number of cases which the Red Cross was allowed to carry remains the best justification for the expenditure incurred until we know what would have happened had voluntary aid not been at hand. It is less easy to account for grants such as those made to the King George Hospital, a military establishment of 1,655 beds set up in the buildings of the Stationery Office, which was equipped by the Red Cross, and towards the expenses of which 154,000 were contributed, two- thirds of that sum being for payment of salaries, wages and ordinary expenses.
On the outbreak of war the B.R.C.S. appealed for funds, as did also the Order of St. John, which had rendered much service in the S. African War. The emergency was altogether exceptional, and the War Office soon broke away from its own regulation as to the sole agency of the B.R.C.S. in respect of voluntary assistance. In the result a joint war committee of the two organizations was formed, subscriptions were pooled, and this committee carried out all Red Cross war work undertaken in Great Britain with some ex- ceptions. Scotland, which elected to proceed separately, raised over 2,000,000, thus providing for a fine independent effort. In addition the principal Dominions Red Cross societies sent commis- sions to the areas of war where their own contingents were serving, and made generous contributions to the work. Canada, Australia, S. Africa and Egypt were conspicuous examples. India was closely associated with the joint committee in connexion with Mesopotamia and E. Africa, and the American Red Cross gave valuable support. No voluntary collection in Great Britain had ever before reached the amount raised by the Red Cross during (he war. Its success was very largely due to the generosity of The Times, which opened its columns freely to the advocacy of British Red Cross claims and the acknowledgment of subscriptions. The Times fund reached over 16,500,000 and covered many special efforts, such as the annual collections throughout the Empire, known as " Our Day." These produced for the four years in which they were held, over 8,500,- ooo, of which more than five-eighths came from overseas. The farmers sent 1,000,000; the coal-owners and miners nearly 500,- ooo; sales of pictures, jewels, etc., at Christie's amounted to 322,000; church collections to 283,000; and pearls given by ladies from their necklaces were sold for 94,000. Every class of society contributed either in money, work, or kind, and the sums received from individuals varied from 3-d. to 25,000.
In addition to the cash which passed through The Times fund, gifts of stores to the value of 1,000,000 were made, and a very large unascertained sum was given locally through the auxiliary home hospitals above referred to. These latter, each of which was con- nected with one of the military centres, were set up in most of the principal towns throughout the country. Private houses, schools and suitable buildings of various kinds were converted into tem- porary wards, to which, in most instances, the minor cases were sent. They were, as a rule, served by V.A.D. members under a trained nursing staff and local medical men. In some a high degree of effi- ciency was reached, and to a few wounded were sent direct from the hospital ships. Rent and equipment were provided by subscriptions in the neighbourhood or private munificence, with, when necessary, grants from Red Cross headquarters; and the Government paid a capitation fee in respect of each patient, also affording through the country directors special facilities for rationed food supplies. It is estimated that over 3,200 auxiliary home hospitals were opened during the four years of the war. Their work received warm ap- proval from the Army Council, who issued an inscribed scroll to each building as a permanent memorial of the patriotic purpose to which it had been devoted. That these institutions may claim to have afforded special comfort to wounded soldiers is indicated by the fact that the disciplinary measure most severely felt by refractory patients was their return to the military quarters from whence they came. Apart from the auxiliary home hospitals, a large sum was expended in equipping and maintaining hospitals abroad, special hospitals at home, and convalescent homes. Responsibility for the British Red Cross Society's hospital at Netley and the St. John Ambulance Brigade hospital at Etaples was undertaken by their respective associations. Mention should also be made of the British Reel Cross Society's Star and Garter home at Richmond for totally disabled men, an institution intended to provide a harbour for those suffering from incurable spinal paralysis. In all, a sum exceeding
