Guest Posted 20 July , 2020 Share Posted 20 July , 2020 My Grandfather in 1915 landed in Le Havre. And volunteered in the French Ambulance Corps. He stayed until the Americans entered the War. And took his skills over there. Now the question is. Is there a place I can go to get additional information. And did volunteers recieve any medals from France. I never knew my grandfather. He not only fought in WW1. But drove from Tunisia to Southern Germany in WW2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gustywinds Posted 2 August , 2020 Share Posted 2 August , 2020 Hello, Are you/was your grandfather American? There is quite a lot of information online about the American Ambulance Field Service https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/volunteer_ambulance_services_usa http://eyewitnesstohistory.com/ambulanceservice.htm https://academic.oup.com/milmed/article/181/2/100/4159808 I can across them when researching my great uncle who served in the Quaker Friends’ Ambulance Unit as they were working with the Americans around Compiegne in late 1916/Early 1917. Im not aware of a unit called the French Ambulance Corps but both the AAFS and the FAU were attached to and directed by the French Army until the Americans entered the war and the AAFS moved there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 2 August , 2020 Share Posted 2 August , 2020 Could it be the YMCA Ambulance Unit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thGordons Posted 3 August , 2020 Share Posted 3 August , 2020 (edited) What was your grandfather's name - if he was an AFS (American Field Service) or Norton Harljes volunteer I may have a roster. I did a lot of research on the AFS for a book several years ago so I have rosters and unit histories etc. and yes - AFS volunteers did get medals from the French sometimes individually and sometimes via a unit citation. The subject of my book was awarded the Croix de Guerre for his efforts bringing wounded from the front line under fire. Chris Edited 3 August , 2020 by 4thGordons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaureenE Posted 3 August , 2020 Share Posted 3 August , 2020 American Field service previously had a website which had a lot of information about volunteers in WW1, including transcribed book accounts. I can now only find it as an archived website, but a number of the internal links still seem to work. https://web.archive.org/web/20101126142340fw_/http://ourstory.info/2/b/2b1index.html "Most drivers were "college men" ---recruited through prestigious American universities and colleges". The Library link is https://web.archive.org/web/20200122162718/http://www.ourstory.info/library/catalog.html There are book titles mentioned for a number of other units The American Ambulance of Paris, which I think a Hospital, rather than an actual ambulance service (but I could be wrong) and under "Other Ambulance services" Harjes Formation Norton-Harjes Hector-Monro AEF Medical service French Units There is a current website, The AFS Virtual Museum which contains some online books http://www.the-afs-archive.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&layout=category&task=category&id=33&Itemid=231 However the information which was on the earlier website doesn't appear to have been carried over. Cheers Maureen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TullochArd Posted 3 August , 2020 Share Posted 3 August , 2020 (edited) 10 hours ago, 4thGordons said: What was your grandfather's name - if he was an AFS (American Field Service) or Norton Harljes volunteer I may have a roster. I did a lot of research on the AFS for a book several years ago so I have rosters and unit histories etc. and yes - AFS volunteers did get medals from the French sometimes individually and sometimes via a unit citation. The subject of my book was awarded the Croix de Guerre for his efforts bringing wounded from the front line under fire. Chris Chris I read you post with interest ..... and perhaps a little bit of hope ...... did you have to be American to serve in the AFS as a volunteer? This is perhaps my last shot at tracking this fellow. I've pretty much exhausted Red Cross and UK Volunteer organisations with help from GWF chums at: I'm reasonably sure the attached newspaper references to "Sergeant Major", "RAMC" and "ASC" are speculation as nothing British seems to fit or exist ....... and reading between the lines we have a definite French feel ......is he on any of your US rosters? Regards Ian Edited 3 August , 2020 by TullochArd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thGordons Posted 3 August , 2020 Share Posted 3 August , 2020 Hello Ian, Unfortunately I don't see an obvious candidate. Here is the page with most of the "Pa" surnames from the History of the American Field Service in France (Vol III) You asked an interesting question about the nationality and I will admit I do not, definitively know the answer - however on this page I notice that Robert Campbell Paradise (who was awarded the Croix de Guerre -which it the significance of the small cross next to his name, two crosses indicate the Medaille Militaire - see William Pearl who was awarded both) is listed as having his home address as Bucks Eng. Which I can only assume means Buckinghamshire England. I was spurred to scan the list for other non US addresses and found Canadian, French and other British ones (Oxford) in the first few pages - it is not however clear to me if these were US nationals living abroad or non nationals. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TullochArd Posted 3 August , 2020 Share Posted 3 August , 2020 Hi Chris - that's really useful ..... and very interesting. It looks like Parkinson GdG and Medaille Militaire will remain a mystery. Many thanks for your time and interest. Regards. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForeignGong Posted 4 August , 2020 Share Posted 4 August , 2020 1 hour ago, TullochArd said: Hi Chris - that's really useful ..... and very interesting. It looks like Parkinson GdG and Medaille Militaire will remain a mystery. Many thanks for your time and interest. Regards. Ian Hi Ian The only J Parkinson I have is 680426 Sjt (A/BSM) James Parkinson “A” Bty, 276th Bde, RFA (Preston) awarded a Medaille Militaire https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31454/supplement/8959 But he also was awarded a DCM https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30932/supplement/11678 Good luck with your search and could you let me know if you verify his awards so I can add them to my database please. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headgardener Posted 4 August , 2020 Share Posted 4 August , 2020 17 hours ago, 4thGordons said: You asked an interesting question about the nationality and I will admit I do not, definitively know the answer - however on this page I notice that Robert Campbell Paradise (who was awarded the Croix de Guerre -which it the significance of the small cross next to his name, two crosses indicate the Medaille Militaire - see William Pearl who was awarded both) is listed as having his home address as Bucks Eng. Which I can only assume means Buckinghamshire England. I was spurred to scan the list for other non US addresses and found Canadian, French and other British ones (Oxford) in the first few pages - it is not however clear to me if these were US nationals living abroad or non nationals. I also noticed the presence of some British ‘home’ addresses for AFS personnel. In every instance that I checked the individuals were Americans living and/or working abroad (including RC Paradise, as per your post above, whose ‘home’ address was in Gerard’s Cross). That doesn’t answer the question as to whether service in the AFS was restricted to US citizens of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TullochArd Posted 4 August , 2020 Share Posted 4 August , 2020 8 hours ago, ForeignGong said: Hi Ian The only J Parkinson I have is 680426 Sjt (A/BSM) James Parkinson “A” Bty, 276th Bde, RFA (Preston) awarded a Medaille Militaire https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31454/supplement/8959 But he also was awarded a DCM https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30932/supplement/11678 Good luck with your search and could you let me know if you verify his awards so I can add them to my database please. Peter Thanks Peter - will certainly do that. Regards. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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