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YMCA
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About Us
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YMCA during war
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YMCA during war
YMCA during WWI and WWII
Throughout the 20th century’s two world conflicts, YMCA was a significant presence, both on the frontline and at home, offering material, educational and pastoral support. Scores of courageous YMCA volunteers eased the misery and suffering of soldiers with places offering food, drink and a place to rest.
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“YMCA was one of the largest providers of civilian support to soldiers, munitions workers and families during the First World War.”
“An unbelievable £158 million was spent on cups of tea and other refreshments, £55 million on relief stations at home and in France, £7 million on notepaper for over 200 million letters home, £1m on sports, concerts, etc and £850k on putting up families of terminally ill soldiers who would otherwise not get a chance to say goodbye.
Over 40,000 volunteers gave their time and left their homes and families to follow the troops and go wherever they were needed, and many lost their own lives in the process, either from injury or illness. The graves of these YMCA workers were granted official recognition by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and many received military and civilian honours.
Few organisations have done so much in caring for the comfort and well-being of our soldiers as your Associations.
They have given invaluable help to the Army, and have immeasurably lightened the hardships which have to be endured by our troops. In recognising the excellent work that has already been done, I should like to wish you success in that which you still propose to undertake. I consider that your plans for after the war are not the least important of your activities.”
The Right Hon. David Lloyd George, M.P. (In office 10 April 1890 – 13 February 1945)
YMCA and the Poppy
During the First World War, some of the bloodiest battles took place in the fields of Flanders in Belgium and Picardy, northern France. When fighting ceased, bright red poppies grew where countless men had fallen.
John McCrae, a doctor serving with the Canadian Army, was so moved by what he saw, he wrote the poem In Flanders’ Fields, in which he describes how the poppies grew in between the crosses marking soldiers’ graves.
American professor Moina Michael had been working at the YMCA Overseas War Secretaries Office in New York when she came across John McCrae’s poem, and was so deeply moved that she vowed to wear a poppy as a sign that the dead would not be forgotten.
In November 1918, Michael turned up to the YMCA Overseas War conference wearing a silk poppy pinned to her coat, giving out an additional 25 to her colleagues, which she had purchased using money she had earned for her work for the YMCA. The delegates attending the YMCA conference followed suit, taking the poppy home to their relative countries and campaigning for it to become a recognised symbol of remembrance. Just a few years later they succeeded, and the first official Poppy Day was held in Britain on November 11, 1921.
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Further reading
Betty Stevenson – YMCA Women’s Auxiliary – The Happy Warrior
Home comforts – the YMCA and the Great War – (Arts & Humanities Research Council)
On the home front: Mrs Churchill and the YMCA – (The Telegraph)
Meet the unsung heroines of World War I – (Stylist)
The YMCA in the First World War: The forgotten story of the YMCA huts – (Amazon UK)