Members of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal Volunteer Corps) were presented with Coronation Medal by Commandant-in-Chief HRH The Princess Royal on Tuesday 30 April.
Coronation Medals
It was a proud day for members of the of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) on Tuesday 30 April when 61 members were presented with the Coronation Medal at Wellington Barracks by their Commandant-in-Chief HRH The Princess Royal. This was the first time since World War Two that the wider Corps had been recognised with the award of a medal.
Support
The Corps supported four roles in the Coronation of Their Majesties: providing support to members of the public with mobility issues; assisting the Joint Military Command’s medical network; providing logistical support to senior military personnel and acting as parade marshals in Buckingham Palace Garden.
Lisa Giles, the FANY Commanding Officer, said:
We are honoured to be presented with the Coronation Medal today in recognition of the service that FANYs were able to provide across the Coronation of Their Majesties. The fact that the medals have been presented by our Commandant-in-Chief, HRH The Princess Royal makes an already-special event even more important." Lisa Giles, Commanding Officer
First Aid Nursing Yeomanry
“We are honoured to be presented with the Coronation Medal today in recognition of the service that FANYs were able to provide across the Coronation of Their Majesties. The fact that the medals have been presented by our Commandant-in-Chief, HRH The Princess Royal makes an already-special event even more important.
“The Corps has a long connection with the Royal Family of which we are very proud, and it was an honour to be able to provide support to such an important event for the nation.”
History
Founded in 1907, the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps) – more commonly known as the FANY, is an all-female voluntary organisation, originally formed of a small unit of nurses on horseback to provide a link between the battlefield and the Field Hospitals. In the Great War they drove ambulance convoys in Flanders and France, and ran field hospitals on the battlefields. In the Second World War, some 6,000 served with the Special Operations Executive and Auxiliary Territorial Service as agents, drivers, coders, signallers and support staff. Out of the 50 women parachuted into occupied France, 39 were FANYs, of whom 16 were captured and killed and three were awarded the George Cross.
FANYs Today
Today they are on call 24 hours, seven days a week, 365 days a year and deploy multi-faceted rapid response teams to support civil and military authorities in times of crisis. Although for the last 100 years they have moved away from nursing, compassion is central to what they do. FANYs train every week and also deploy in support of non-emergency operations, routinely assisting organisations with their training.