Full Report: British Committee of the French Red Cross

[SarahHes]

Has anybody managed to get hold of this report into the activities of the British Committee of the French Red Cross? A contemporary (1918) review states….

‘The Complete Report (1914-1918) of the Comite Britannique, Croix Rouge Francaise, which has its headquarters in London at 9, Knightsbridge, S.W. 1, and in Paris at 36, Rue de Chateaudun, gives a most graphic and concise account of a vast amount of good work accomplished, which we advise our readers to procure and study.’

I am indeed very keen to ‘procure and study’ it, but am being thwarted at every turn!

It is included in a WW1 online archive to which a few university libraries subscribe… but they all seem to restrict access to students and staff. I believe there is a bound copy in the library at Nanterre, Paris, and another in the War Memorial collection in Canberra, but I can’t find any other references to physical copies. It’s not listed as held in any of the National Archives collections, nor do the British Library have a copy (although it is possible that they subscribe to the online collection but can’t find the information on their systems as they are still struggling to get back up and running following a cyber attack last October). The company who digitised it will only give access to libraries, not individuals. 
 

I think my next step is going to be to try to find a history student at one of the universities with access who fancies a bit of paid research work; but before I embark on that - has anyone come across the report anywhere else? 

Note: this is not For Dauntless France, which I know is freely available online. 

 

[seaJane]

Interesting! Not in my bibliography. The catalogue record here https://discover.libraryhub.jisc.ac.uk/search?q="british committee of the french red cross"&rn=3 states "Original location: Imperial War Museums," so I presume there is a hard copy in the London depot of the IWM. It might be worth trying the inter-library loan system in your local library, assuming you are in this country.

Finallly, are you affiliated to any scholarly establishment? They may be able to get you access to Adam Matthew Digital who I see provide the online version.

Best wishes,

seaJane

[SarahHes]

Thanks - I’ll try the IWM, see if they can confirm it’s there and if I could get it on loan….
I’m an alumnus of Durham, and can use any of their libraries, and I often use the library at Leeds Uni which is nearest to me, but they all seem to have the same policy; I can look at anything on the shelves, but according to the terms of their subscriptions, only current students and staff can log in to the online archives.

I did contact Adam Matthew Digital directly, but they told me access could only be arranged through a library… it is rather frustrating, as I am sure there aren’t queues of students lining up to look at it, whereas I have become obsessed and yet just can’t get a peek 😂 

[seaJane]

1 hour ago, SarahHes said:

it is rather frustrating,

More than rather!

AM Digital have such huge amounts of stuff - you'd think they'd be glad of the income from a more flexible subscription module. Looks like you'll have to make friends with a current student or staff member...

[SarahHes]

Exactly! I’m happy to pay, and the content is already sitting there. All they have to do is give me log-in details - it would be money for nothing, really.

[KernelPanic]

16 hours ago, seaJane said:

... They may be able to get you access to Adam Matthew Digital who I see provide the online version.

Do you have the record detail of the Report in the Adam Matthew Digital? l didn't turn up anything after a quick search of it.  However, I may be access it through my institution with more info.

[SarahHes]

There are two items listed with the same title ‘British Committee of the French Red Cross - Complete Report’. They are in the First World War collection (obviously 😂)

LBY BRCS I68

LBY BRCS G3

https://www.firstworldwar.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/OfficialPapers

[seaJane]

1 hour ago, KernelPanic said:

Do you have the record detail

I see Sarah has been quicker off the mark than me!

[SarahHes]

9 minutes ago, seaJane said:

I see Sarah has been quicker off the mark than me!

Like I said, I am obsessed with getting access to this report. I even dream about it! I am convinced it is going to helP me clamber out of a bit of a research / writing rut! 

[KernelPanic]

I had trouble attaching the first time I tried, but it seems to have worked this time (fingers crossed). Hope they're useful.

Here's the first one.

LBY_BRCS_I68.pdf

... and the second.

LBY_BRCS_G3.pdf

[Sepoy]

Thank you for posting these KernelPanic

They have already helped me to answer a couple of questions raised in a recent research project.