The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY)

In 1999, the F.A.N.Y. was officially renamed the Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps (PRVC), and it is now known as FANY (PRVC).

THE FIRST AID NURSING YEOMANRY (FANY) was created in 1907 as a first aid link between front-line fighting units and the field hospitals.

During the First World War, FANYs ran field hospitals, drove ambulances and set up soup kitchens and troop canteens, often under 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.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, the Corps was called upon to form the nucleus of the Motor Driver Companies of the ATS. Another section was attached to the Polish Army, and a Kenyan unit formed in 1935 also joined the war effort. A spirit of independence led others to join the FANY in the Special Operations Executive.

These women worked on coding and signals, acted as conductors for agents and provided 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.

Many of the female agents sent by SOE to France were commissioned into the Corps. Twelve died in concentration camps. Three of these courageous women - Odette Hallowes, Violette Szabo and Noor lnayat Khan - were awarded the George Cross, the last two posthumously. In all 54 names are recorded on the FANY memorial at St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge, London.

Since the war, the Corps has been known chiefly for its work in the field of military and civil communications, a legacy of its distinguished wartime record.

Odette Hallowes 1912 - 1995 GC, MBE, Chevalier de Legion d'Honneur.

In 1999, the FANY was officially renamed the Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps (PRVC), and it is now known as FANY(PRVC).

The FANY (PRVC) is now based at:

It is still an all-woman volunteer organisation. FANYs now specialise in communications for the Army and the City of London Police. Corps members are trained in radio communications, paramedical skills, map reading, navigation and orienteering, shooting, self defence and survival techniques, advanced driving and casualty bureau documentation. The Corps recruits women between 18 and 45, once a year in the early Autumn.

FANY seeks news of former members and holds regular reunions.

Footnote:

I was very pleased to be able to help the FANY (PRVC) setup their presence on the WWW and to design, maintain and help run their web site.

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