Saturday afternoon tea, cake and talks. Join the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum for a talk on the fascinating history of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry with author and historian, Philomena Liggins

On the outbreak of the First World War, some members of the military hierarchy deemed women were not welcome in the theatre of war. Undaunted, they purchased a motor ambulance and in October 1914 took the first F.A.N.Y unit to Calais.

They quickly set to work and over the following five years F.A.N.Y units ran two hospitals and a convalescent home; they served in a Regimental Aid Post; delivered medical supplies to First Aid Posts and woolly hats, socks and scarves to the men in the trenches, and transported casualties along the evaluation chains from the front line to the ports of Boulogne and Calais.

In 1916 they became the first women to drive for the British Army, and in 1917 they served with American and French military and civil authorities along the Marne. After the war they served in Belgium, France and Germany where they helped to repatriate Allied prisoners of war and civilian refugees.

Theirs was not an easy ride, they faced challenges with compassion, and overcame adversity with modesty and good humour. As testimony to their bravery, amongst the many medals the ladies of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry received were seventeen Military Medals.

Philomena Liggins is a social historian, writer and speaker on the work of women during WW1 and WW2. She attended Bury Convent Grammar School and studied fashion at Salford Art College before embarking on a career in design and commerce.

£10