A British Red Cross orderly escorting a wounded, captured, German soldier to a field hospital for treatment. Following the outbreak of WWI in August 1914, the British Red Cross and the Order of St John formed the Joint War Committee to pool monetary and human resources and to work together under the protected emblem of the red cross. Members of the British Red Cross and the Order of St John were organized into Voluntary Aid Detachments (VAD). All members were trained in first aid and others trained in nursing, cookery and hygiene and sanitation. The Joint War committee also provided assistance at the front line, supplying the first motorized ambulances to the battlefields, which were significantly more efficient then the horse drawn ambulances they replaced.
