On Saturday 28 October, members of the Corps came together with supporters and friends at St Paul’s Church Knightsbridge to mark Corps Day; the anniversary of the official start of the FANYs’ wartime service.
Communications Officer
On Saturday 28 October, members of the Corps came together with supporters and friends at St Paul’s Church Knightsbridge to mark Corps Day; the anniversary of the official start of the FANYs’ wartime service.
Corps Day is held every year as close to 27th October as possible to remember the day when Grace Ashley-Smith, the Corps Commanding Officer, acquired an ambulance and sailed to France with six FANYs after their offers of help were refused by British Army contacts. The FANYs crossed to Calais on 27th October 1914 to drive ambulances for the Belgians and the French, and on 29th October, they took over a dirty and decayed convent school opposite the Church of Notre Dame, called Lamarck Hospital. Find out more about Corps’ history here.
To mark the day, a remembrance service was held in St Paul’s, followed by the laying of a wreath at the FANY Memorial. We were honoured that the wreath was laid this year by Julie Clamp, granddaughter of Yvonne Rudellat. Yvonne was a FANY SOE Agent in France who worked for the Resistance as part of the Prosper network in France through WWII from August 1942 until June 1943, when she was captured by the Germans and imprisoned. She died of typhus in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp a few days after the liberation of the camp by the allies. All FANYs who lost their lives during WWI and WWII are remembered during the service through the Roll of Honour; read every year by an active member of the Corps.
After the service, a celebratory lunch was held at the Victory Services Club with prizes and cups awarded to members for their service over the past year.