Modern war
In war time, St John and the Red
Cross worked together to meet a huge range of medical and
welfare needs.
During the Crimean War in the
1850s, newspapers began to carry graphic reports of the
battlefield carnage. The public was faced with the
harsh reality that wounded soldiers were left to suffer and die.
The Red Cross movement grew out of the resulting outrage. Volunteer
members of the British Order of St John responded and took great
personal risks to bring first aid and ambulance transport to
battlefields in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. They also
helped to found the British Red Cross.
St John Ambulance aimed to provide trained
reserves for army hospitals. Its first
official role was in the South African (or Boer) war, 1899-1902,
when nearly a quarter of the Army Medical Service in South Africa
were St John Reserves, acting as medical orderlies.
In World War One, 1914-18,
new technologies brought slaughter on a previously unknown scale.
Aircraft, tanks, gas and machine guns changed the nature of
battlefields and far greater numbers of men were needed to fight.
This meant almost everyone in Britain knew a soldier personally.
There was a huge response to appeals for volunteers to help care
for the wounded and dying. An extensive system of medical services
and hospitals was put in place, at the front, behind the lines and
back in Britain. Most of it was run by the Joint War Committee of
the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St John.
In World War Two, 1939-45, civilians as
well as fighting forces were attacked, particularly from the air.
Again St John and the Red Cross worked together to meet medical and
welfare needs on the home front and overseas. St John’s roles
included organising the national anti-gas training
programme; running first aid posts, e.g. in London’s Tube stations
during the Blitz; assisting prisoners of war and providing medical
reserves and volunteer nurses to serve with the forces.
In current conflicts, St John
welfare workers are sent out to give humanitarian
help.