8 Men Will Soon Leave For Libya

Responding to a request from General Wavell, former British commander is the Middle East, for 400 ambulances and attendant personnel, the American Field Service has announced a drive to enlist 1,000 men who will sail overseas this spring to care for Allied wounded in the battle of Libya.

Although many more have shown interest in this service and may sign up later, eight Harvard men have already volunteered as ambulance drivers and will see action in the next few months. Three undergraduates have just returned to this country, from Field Service duty in the battle of France where they worked incessantly for many weeks bringing the injured to hospitals and helping in the evacuation of civilians.

Training Not Necessary

The main attraction of these ambulance units, according to Luclen L. Kim solving '45, who has received his final papers and will sail for Cairo shortly, is that they offer immediate action without the necessity of many months of laborious training.

Volunteers in the Field Service, many of them college undergraduates, receive basic instruction in mechanics and first aid on the trip across; when they arrive in Cairo they are ready immediately to join an ambulance unit attached to one of the British Army divisions. While at present all volunteers serve in North Africa, if any of the British divisions in that sector were transferred elsewhere, the ambulance unit which supports it would have to follow.

Transportation Paid

Involving a long and possibly hazardous voyage from New York to Cairo on small freighters which make secret passages, transportation to Egypt is paid entirely by the British government. All men joining the ambulance outfit, however, are expected to supply at least $300, for their own spending money and to cover the cost of uniforms.

For enlistment in the American Field Service men must furnish four letters of recommendation from people of standing in the community, and a letter from a reputable doctor specifying physical condition and blood type. It is also essential that the prospective volunteers know how to drive an automobile. Transportation, food, and rations are supplied by the British government, although drivers must have the $300 for personal expenses and equipment.

There is a good chance that a special Harvard ambulance unit will be formed in the near future, said W. DeFord Bigelow '00, chairman for the New England branch of the Field Service.