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They were Prepared 02
INTRODUCTION
THE story of the G.I.S. is one of foresight and imagination allied to steady perseverance, flexibility, and responsible commonsense.
Planning began in 1942, at a time described by the Prime Minister (Mr. Churchill) as " a stormy lull " in a universal war; in the days when the Nazis were within twenty-two miles of Dover, and bombs were bursting on York and Norwich and Exeter, as well as on the perennial target of the capital by day and night.
Members of the Guide Emergency Committee which met in London at the beginning of May, 1942, were less concerned with the war raging round them than with its aftermath. They knew that conditions would be — must be — chaotic in the lands that had been overrun.
They knew that the needs of uprooted people would be immense; and they knew that there was an intense will to meet these needs and alleviate suffering, waiting only to be co-ordinated. They therefore laid plans to raise the money necessary to train and equip teams of voluntary workers to go out at the earliest possible moment after the cessation of hostilities to give relief wherever possible.
They appealed for funds; and funds flowed in from Guides throughout the Empire, who earned the money in multifarious expected and unexpected ways, or who saved pennies by forgoing the occasional luxury that might have relieved the dull wartime diet; from Guiders and their friends; and sometimes from organisations which had themselves received help from members of the Association. And while the funds swelled—to reach a total of £ in,ooo by the summer of 1945—Guiders were being prepared to use these funds to the best advantage.
PREPARATION took the form of a carefully thought-out training. It attracted the attention of the Press, which described it as "making them tough", so missing the main point. What the trainers wanted was to assess the quality of the volunteers—their characters, their intelligence and their physical fitness, in that order.
When, therefore, the volunteers were, for example, ordered to undertake yet another trek without rest (perhaps even without food or drink) at . . . the end of a strenuous day, it was mainly to prove to the women themselves that they could do everything within their power—and then more!
And always the training had practical value.
The trainers consulted people who had done relief work after the 1914-18 war, and took advice from refugees who had escaped from the overrun countries of Europe, or had fled before the advancing enemy. In consequence, the kind of situation that had been rehearsed in this country (or in Australia and New Zealand—for twenty-nine of the volunteers came from the other side of the world to help) was met with again and again when field work began.
Theory, practice and performance followed in smooth sequence. Meanwhile, the G.I.S. Committee kept abreast of developments in official relief plans, through the Council of British Societies for Relief Abroad, of which the G.I.S. is a foundation member.
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