Mind, Body & Soul

The In Flanders Fields Museum and the University of Kent (School of History) present a series of eight seminars on Thursday evening, free and open to all.

The four lectures in Ieper are scheduled at 7.15pm and take place in the reading room of the In Flanders Fields Museum, Sint-Maartensplein 3.

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Thursday 19 October 2017, 7.15pm
Dr Emma Hanna (University of Kent)
Mind, Body & Soul
The Salvation Army and YMCA on the Western Front, 1914-1918

This talk will give an overview of the wartime work of two of the largest voluntary-aid organizations on the Western Front: the Salvation Army and the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA). In camps, huts and hospitals along the lines of communication, and often within the range of fire, hundreds of men and women travelled to France and Belgium to assist the Allied war effort. While each organization had its own mission and methodology, their primary aims converged – to care of the British servicemen’s physical, moral and spiritual well-being. With a particular focus on music, education and recreation, this talk will put the work of these organizations into the context of 1914-18, giving a comparative analysis of how the Salvation Army and YMCA operated to care for the minds, bodies and souls of millions of British servicemen.