| First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps) |
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|---|---|
Cap badge of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry |
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| Active | 1907- |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Independent |
| Type | Yeomanry |
| Role | Communications support |
| Size | One Regiment |
| Part of | 2 Signal Brigade |
| Garrison/HQ | London |
| Commanders | |
| Commandant-in-Chief | HRH the Princess Royal |
The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps) (FANY (PRVC)) is a British independent all-female unit and registered charity[1] affiliated to, but not part of, the Territorial Army, formed in 1907 and active in both nursing and intelligence work during the World Wars.
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It was formed as the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry in 1907 as a first aid link between the field hospitals and the front lines, and was given the yeomanry title as all 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.[2][3] Their founder, Sergeant Major later Captain Edward Baker, a veteran of the Sudan Campaign and the Second Boer War, felt that a single rider could get to a wounded soldier faster than a horse-drawn ambulance.[4][5] Each woman was trained not only in first aid but signalling and drilling in cavalry movements.[6] The original uniform was a scarlet tunic with white facings, a navy blue riding skirt with three rows of white braid at the bottom and a hard topped scarlet hat with black leather peak. In 1912 the uniform was changed to a khaki tunic, khaki riding skirt and later a khaki soft cap.
By 1914 the FANY was run by Grace Ashley-Smith (1889–1963), who had joined in 1909, and Lillian Franklin.
During the First World War, lieutenants Ashley-Smith and Franklin, arrived in Calais on 27 October 1914,[7] but drove motor ambulances instead of horses. FANYs ran field hospitals, drove ambulances and set up soup kitchens and troop canteens, often in highly dangerous conditions. By the Armistice, they had been awarded many decorations for bravery, including 17 Military Medals, 1 Legion d'Honneur and 27 Croix de Guerre.[8] Ashley-Smith wrote a 1917 account of her experiences Nursing Adventures: A FANY in France, retitled A Nurse at War: Nursing Adventures in France for America.[9]
In September 1938, the FANY Corps was asked to form the initial Motor Driver Companies of the Auxiliary Territorial Service, called the Women's Transport Service, and it also served as a parent unit for many women who undertook espionage work for the Special Operations Executive. 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. Members operated in several theatres of war, including North Africa, Italy, India and the Far East.[10]
Thirty-nine of the agents sent by SOE to France were commissioned into the Corps: twelve were captured by the Germans and died in concentration camps. Three of these (Odette Sansom, Violette Szabo and Noor Inayat Khan), were awarded the George Cross - the last two posthumously, and Nancy Wake the George Medal for their service.[11][12]
Abroad, they served the Finnish Government, a section was attached to the Polish Army, and a Kenyan section formed in 1935, was made the official East African unit by the War Office in August 1941, and was very active during the war. This section took women from all over the southern half of Africa.
A memorial at St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge commemorates 54 members who gave their lives on active service with the Corps in this war.[13]
Below is a chart of WTS/FANY ranks compared to the British Army.[14]
| Women's Transport Service rank | British Army rank |
| Driver | Private |
| Lance-Corporal | Lance-Corporal |
| Corporal | Corporal |
| Sergeant | Sergeant |
| n/a | Staff Sergeant / Colour Sergeant |
| n/a | Warrant Officer Class III |
| Warrant Officer Class II | Warrant Officer Class II |
| n/a | Warrant Officer Class I |
| Ensign | Second Lieutenant |
| Lieutenant | Lieutenant |
| Captain | Captain |
| Commander | Major |
| Staff Commander | Lieutenant-Colonel |
| Commandant | Colonel |
| n/a | Brigadier |
| n/a | Major-General |
| n/a | Lieutenant-General |
| n/a | General |
| n/a | Field Marshal |
|
no authorized rank - n/a |
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Today, the Corps provides response teams in support of the Civil and Military authorities within London during a major event or incident, as well as providing UK-wide assistance for civil and military planning and exercise roles. It is open to volunteers between the ages of 18 and 45 who reside or work near London, within the M25. Corps members are trained in radio communications, first aid skills, map reading, navigation and orienteering, shooting, self-defence and survival techniques, advanced driving and casualty bureau documentation. Their working dress is similar to that of the modern British Army; on formal occasions they wear a uniform similar to British Army Service Dress. They also have their own rank system.
The FANY was officially renamed the Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps in 1999, after being given permission by HRH the Princess Royal 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 Corps celebrated its centenary in 2007.