EDUCATION RESOURCES
WWI: Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs)
Session 6: Food parcels and prisoners of war
“So you can see that the men have to rely entirely on the parcels sent from
England.”
Prisoner of War, WWI.
Introduction
When a soldier was captured by enemy forces they became a Prisoner of War or POW as they
were sometimes known.
The Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs) set up by British Red Cross performed many important
tasks during World War I, and one of these was to help care for POW.
The British Red Cross was in a unique position to do this because it was built on a set of
agreements called the Geneva Conventions. These are still in place today and every country in the
world has committed to follow them. The first Geneva Convention was proposed by the founder of
the Red Cross, Henri Dunant, in 1864.
Another convention was agreed in 1906 before the start of WWI. Among other things, these
conventions set out how the different sides in a war should treat civilians and the sick and
wounded.
- civilians caring for the sick and wounded should be protected (not engaged in combat).
- the Red Cross is legally recognised as an emblem worn by civilians caring for the sick and
wounded. Those wearing it should therefore be protected.
- hospitals and other buildings treating the sick and wounded were not allowed to be attacked.
- all civilians caring for the sick and wounded should do so impartially. This means they should
care for them no matter who they are fighting for and treat those in most need first.
These rules were important and helped the British Red Cross, working through Voluntary Aid
Detachments (VADs) to perform important roles during WWI without being harmed or targeted by
enemy forces.
NOTE: The Geneva Conventions became the building blocks for International Humanitarian Law or
IHL, which was agreed much later in 1949. IHL is the main set of laws protecting civilians and the
sick or injured today and is sometimes called the ‘rules of war’.
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© British Red Cross 2014. All images © British Red Cross 2014 unless otherwise stated.
This resource and other free educational materials are available at www.redcross.org.uk/education
The British Red Cross Society is a charity registered in England and Wales (220949) and Scotland (SCO37738).
EDUCATION RESOURCES
WWI: Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs)
Getting started: Feeding prisoners of war
In WWI, prisoners of war were protected from being killed, injured, or tortured by the first Geneva
Conventions of 1864 and 1906. The conventions also said they should be treated ‘humanely’ but it
did not say anything about feeding them well and so many prisoners were close to starving and the
food they were given may not have been appropriate or enjoyable. The VADs were able to
establish a food parcel service to help with this problem.
1.) Read through the information about food parcels for prisoners of war here. See if you can find
out the following:
a. What was in a typical emergency food parcel?
b. How long did an emergency food parcel last?
c. How many food parcels did the German authorities allow to be kept at their camps?
d. Were all food parcels the same?
e. What else might prisoners find in their parcels and why was that important?
Exploring further: Making it matter
The parcels sent to prisoners could sometimes take several weeks to reach the prison camps and
were then sometimes stored before being given to prisoners. This could cause some problems as
this prisoner writes about:
“I regret to state that the bread which we received during last summer was
in such a state that we could not eat it, but it was on account of the hot
weather; but during autumn and up to the time I left Germany, it arrived
regular and in very good condition.”
Mostly, the food parcels arrived in a good state because their contents were carefully chosen to
last and not decay or perish.
2.) Look again at the contents of a typical food parcel and think about how the food was chosen to
last. Imagine you were designing a food parcel to send to prisoners of war today.
a. What things would you include and why? Are there things that were in the WWI parcels
that you would not include today? Why is that?
b. Would all of the foods you have chosen survive a journey of several weeks and being
stored until they were needed?
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© British Red Cross 2014. All images © British Red Cross 2014 unless otherwise stated.
This resource and other free educational materials are available at www.redcross.org.uk/education
The British Red Cross Society is a charity registered in England and Wales (220949) and Scotland (SCO37738).
EDUCATION RESOURCES
WWI: Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs)
3.) Think about the non-food items that were included in WWI parcels such as games to help
soldiers pass the time in the camps. What might you include to entertain prisoners of war
today?
4.) Imagine you were a prisoner of war being kept away from your friends and family. If you were
allowed to request just one parcel to be sent to you to help you pass your time as a POW what
would you ask for? Remember to think about whether the prison guards would let it in or not.
Thinking it through: Treating prisoners humanely
The parcels sent by VADs to prisoners were designed to respect the humanity of those who had
been captured during war.
5.) What evidence can you find in the information about the parcels to show how prisoners’
humanity was respected?
The content of parcels was agreed by the Central Prisoners of War Committee. Below is an extract
from their meeting talking about what they would allow in personal parcels from relatives to
prisoners:
Extract 1: Personal Parcels.
“..if a small parcel of personal requisites weighing not more than three or four lbs., and
bearing a distinctive mark could be sent, say, once a month by the relations of prisoners
through an authorised Association, this would go a long way to allay the dissatisfaction
then existing among relatives without any serious risk of assisting the enemy.
The following articles might be included:Pipes, sponge, pencils, tooth powder, pomade, cap badge, badges of rank, numerals and
shoulder titles, shaving brush, safety razor, bootlaces (mohair), pipe lights, medal ribbons,
brass polish, housewife (sewing kit), handkerchiefs, (one a quarter), shaving soap (one stick
a quarter), health salts, insecticide powder, braces and belts (provided they are made of
webbing and include no rubber or leather), combs, hair brushes, tooth brushes, buttons,
chess, draughts, dominoes, dubbin, hobnails, sweets or chocolate (8 oz only), one pair
mittens every quarter, one muffler every quarter, one pair of socks instead of mittens or
muffler.”
6.) Discuss with a partner whether you think these things improve the humane treatment of
prisoners of war and give reasons for your thinking.
7.) Imagine you were sitting on a Central Prisoners of War Committee today. How would you
make sure that prisoners were treated humanely with dignity and respect?
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© British Red Cross 2014. All images © British Red Cross 2014 unless otherwise stated.
This resource and other free educational materials are available at www.redcross.org.uk/education
The British Red Cross Society is a charity registered in England and Wales (220949) and Scotland (SCO37738).
EDUCATION RESOURCES
WWI: Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs)
8.) Try turning your ideas from 7 above into a list of rules that could be given to forces involved in
an armed conflict.
9.) When you have finished your list look at the Basic Rules of IHL document available here that
are in place for armed international conflicts today. How are these similar or different to your
own rules?
Extension activities:
10.) Imagine you are addressing an international meeting and have been asked to make an
argument for why prisoners of war should be treated humanely. Use what you have learned in
these activities to write a short (no more than 3 mins) speech as to why you would make this
argument.
11.) Since WWI there have been additional Geneva Conventions to protect prisoners of war. You
can read a summary of these here. How do you think the role of VADs in WWI might have
helped these additional conventions to be agreed?
12.) You may have noticed in the information about food parcels that there was a mention of
‘Indian parcels’. During WWI Indian soldiers who were then part of the British Empire were also
fighting for Britain. Some of these soldiers were captured as prisoners of war. You can read
some interesting letters by Indian soldiers about being a prisoner of war here. Click on the
image to view and read the letters on screen.
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© British Red Cross 2014. All images © British Red Cross 2014 unless otherwise stated.
This resource and other free educational materials are available at www.redcross.org.uk/education
The British Red Cross Society is a charity registered in England and Wales (220949) and Scotland (SCO37738).