Reports by the Joint War Committee and the Joint War Finance Committee of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in England on voluntary aid rendered to the sick and wounded at home and abroad and to British prisoners of war, 1914-1919, with appendices.

  • Joint War Committee of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in England.
Date:
[2009]
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Reports by the Joint War Committee and the Joint War Finance Committee of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in England on voluntary aid rendered to the sick and wounded at home and abroad and to British prisoners of war, 1914-1919, with appendices. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    agreement of October 24, 1914, and one supplementary to it, dated July 8, 1915, are set forth in Appendix I, where also will be found the Red Cross and Order of St. John Act, 1918, which gives powers to the Corporations to deal with the residue of their property acquired for the purposes of the war. 5. The Joint War Committee having, as stated above, come into existence only on October 20, 1914, it follows that the period August 4, 1914, to October 19, 1914, inclusive, does not come within its purview. In order, however, to make this volume as complete a record as possible ot British Aid to the Sick and Wounded during the war, memoranda, prepared by the two Corporations on their separate War work, have been included, and will be found in Appendices VI and VII. Jn this connection it should be mentioned that, by the terms of the Agreement, the first £20U0,0U0 subscribed went to the British Red Cross Society in respect of the separate expenses incurred, or to be incurred, by it, reference to which will be found in Appendix VI. ‘he remainder, and all amounts received thereafter, with some exceptions provided for in the agreement itself, including sums specially earmarked by the donors, it was agreed should be considered as the Joint Fund. 6. It should also be mentioned that the Scottish Branch of the British Red Cross Society collected separate funds, and administered them separately, from Scotland. ‘hat work has not been under the control of the Joint War Committee. We are, however, able to give in Appendix VIII an account, which has been supplied by the Scottish Branch, of the very considerable and successful Red Cross etiort made by Scotland during the war. 7. With regard to Ireland, the relations of the Joint War Committee have been closer but not complete. The work in Ulster has been distinct from that of the three Southern Provinces. Ireland, in addition to its own personnel, hospitals, stores and depéts, contributed funds to the Joint War Committee; and its expenditure on the Ked Cross has, taking into account population and wealth, been very generous. Jt has been thought best to deal with Ireland separately, and an account of its work will be found in Appendix IX. 8. It will have been seen that the Joint Fund placed at the disposal of the Joint War Committee consisted of the /':2mes Fund, less the amounts referred to in paragraph 5 above. All general collections and the proceeds of local efforts transmitted to the Joint War Committee, passed through the 7imes Fund and were acknowledged in the Times. The total amount of the Times Fund received by the Joint War Committee was £16,510,023 6s. 5d. In addition, gifts in kind to the estimated value of £1,027,280 1s. 10d. were received; and Government grants amounted to £681,257 4s. 1ld. With interest on deposits and investments, grants from India for specified objects, payments for stores, etc., and miscellaneous receipts, the total sum to be accounted for amounted to £21,885,035 17s. Od. 9. Our report purports to give an account of the disposal of these amounts and to provide for future Red Cross organizers such information relating to the work as is not likely to be readily available elsewhere. We have, therefore, not hesitated to deal as fully as possible with purely Red Cross subjects. On the other hand, unnecessary details of technical subjects which are not exclusively Red Cross in their character, have been omitted. We have made no attempt to provide illus- trations of a popular character, confining ourselves to those which might serve some practical object in the event of a future war. 10. The Joint War Committee, in the text of this Report, confine themselves to their own work. But any general estimate of the British Empire’s Red Cross activities would, of course, include the operations of other Societies within the British Dominions, such as the Canadian, Australian, and South African Branches of the British Red Cross Society. These great Societies, though nominally