#hackett lowther ambulance unit

[whats-in-a-sentence]

The Hackett-Lowther all-female Ambulance Unit, which was established in 1917 by Norah Desmond Hackett and May 'Toupie' Lowther. They acquired vehicles and recruited women before departing for the frontline in France. The British army would not use the women's unit, and instead they joined the French Third Army for nearly three years of wartime service.

"Normal Women: 900 Years of Making History" - Philippa Gregory

[klaineharmony]

300x3, “Over the Wall”

I needed something lighter today, after all of that emotional angst yesterday, and so I started to write a scene that’s been in my head for a long time, where Kath meets Toupie Lowther of the Hackett-Lowther ambulance unit. Toupie was a real person and extremely cool - wealthy, determined, international fencing champion, lesbian. If you would like to know more about her, I highly recommend Val Brown’s book - Val is a lovely person and an independent researcher. The pictures of Toupie on the internet are generally very poor, but there is a good one here, and if you go here and scroll down to the second photo, it is a picture of several other members of the ambulance unit. 802 words.

@whatstheproblembaby, @katherineisthebestpulitzer, @queenofbrooklyn, @wordshakerofgallifrey, @thelittleredheadedmusician, @elozable, @rum-on-fire, @captainlordauditor, @writemetohell

Without really knowing how she had gotten there, Katherine found herself in the midst of a swarm of ambulances, all preparing to support the French Army at the trenches. All of the drivers were hustling, checking their tires, their engines, their supplies and stretchers loaded in the back, readying themselves for whatever awaited them.. And then Katherine realized what was different, and why.

They were all women.

Every single one of the twenty or so drivers she was surrounded by were women. They wore clothes much like her own - calf-length khaki skirts and boots, long jackets with pockets, leather belts. But they all boasted army caps with official insignia and chevrons on their arms.

In a burst of clarity, Katherine knew who they were. The Hackett-Lowther Unit. They were somewhat legendary at the front, this group of women ambulance drivers who had defiantly attached themselves to the French Army when the U.S. Army would not accept their services, and who were coordinated, trained, and fed by their two women leaders. In all her reporting, she had never managed to run into them, and here they were.

Other details caught her attention now. The ambulances emblazoned with “Hacket-Lowther Unit” and their official designation, S. S. Y. 3. How determined and capable each driver seemed to be. The fact that they were laughing and joking even as they were about to go straight into the ugliness of a German offensive. She pulled out her notebook and pencil and began to scribble notes, intent on getting the details before the women left.

“Hey, Red!” someone called, and Katherine looked up, pushing her hair out of her eyes. One of the women, with dark hair cropped as close as a man’s, and bright, inquisitive eyes, lifted a hand. “Are you coming?”

Katherine stared at her. “You’d give me a ride?”

“If you’re sure you want one,” said the woman, with a quick grin. “And as long as you aren’t the type who screams - but I doubt you’d be out here if you were,” she added.

Katherine laughed. “I’m not. I’ve been here for most of the last three years. I”ve long since gotten over screaming.”

“Well, come on then,” the driver said, and Katherine hurried over to the ambulance, scrambling into the passenger seat.

“There’s an extra helmet under the seat. You might have to share with a Tommy, if there’s one who’s conscious enough to sit up,” the driver warned her, and Katherine nodded. 

“I’ve done that before, too. With whom do I have the pleasure of riding?” Katherine asked with a smile, and the driver chuckled.

“Ooh, a society girl, eh?” she said, lifting a brow.

“In a former life. I still remember some of it,” Katherine parried back, and her unlikely escort chuckled again.

“Me, too. Toupie Lowther. Pleased to meet you,” she said, and Katherine stared.

“You are Miss Lowther?”

“None of that ‘Miss,’ please. I can’t stand it, even in the papers. Just Toupie. Or Captain Lowther, if you must.”

“Well, it’s an honor to meet you, Toupie,” Katherine said, putting out a hand, and Toupie shook it firmly. “You and your unit have become legends, you know.” 

That quick grin came again as Toupie climbed into the driver’s seat. “We don’t deserve  special treatment for just doing our jobs - but being a legend has a nice ring to it,” she said impishly, and Katherine laughed again.

“So who are you, and which sheet do you write for?” Toupie asked.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Katherine exclaimed. “Katherine Plumber Jacobs, reporter for the New York Sun.”

Toupie threw the car into gear and began to move, the other ambulances slowly falling into line behind her. 

“The Sun, eh? And you’ve been out here for three years?”

“With one furlough. I had to go home for a little while - my sister-in-law was in poor health,” Katherine explained, her face clouding over at the thought of Sarah. “I thought about staying, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave things undone here. It hurts to leave my family behind, but this is my job. This is where I have to be.”

“Tough girl,” Toupie said approvingly. “I have it easier than you, kind of - my family’s right here,” she said, giving a little wave out the window to the procession of ambulances. “I don’t have a lot of blood family, and I’m only really close to my mother and my goddaughter. The other people who matter to me are the ones I’m with every day. It makes a difference, when you’re doing work like this.” 

“I would imagine so,” Katherine said. “You all seem to be very close.”

“Nothing like a war to tie people together,” Toupie said, a trifle grimly, but then her face relaxed into a smile. “We keep each other cheerful.”

[scrapironflotilla]

Presentation of the Croix de Guerre by General Humbert, 15th Army Corps, 3rd Army, to members of the Hackett Lowther Ambulance Unit, 1917.

[whats-in-a-sentence]

The extraordinary sportswoman, motorist, fencer, weightlifter, jiu jitsu champion and international tennis player, May 'Toupie' Lowther (1874-1944), organised her own team of women ambulance drivers – the Hackett-Lowther Ambulance Unit – and took 20 cars and 30 women to France.

The British army did not use the all-women ambulances, who attached instead to the French Third Army for nearly three years of wartime service. Lowther was awarded the French military medal, the Croix de Guerre, for her service.

"Normal Women: 900 Years of Making History" - Philippa Gregory