American Volunteer Ambulance Drivers in WWI

This web page, published by the Military Postal History Society, contains images of the exhibit pages for American Volunteer Ambulance Drivers in WWI created by Ed Dubin. This exhibit was created by, and is the property of Mr. Dubin, and is being supplied as a courtesy to the Military Postal History Society.

Introduction

This is the story of American volunteer ambulance drivers who served in France and Italy before the United States entry into WWI on April 6, 1917. Almost immediately after war broke out in August 1914, young Americans began volunteering for ambulance duty in Europe. The majority of the volunteers came from Ivy League universities and Eastern prep schools. According to the American Field Service (AFS) WWI history, of the 2,500 drivers who served in the AFS: 348 came from Harvard; 202 from Yale: 187 from Princeton and 122 from Cornell. As war progressed the volunteer units grew steadily. By the time the U.S. Army took over the volunteer organizations in October 1917, over 3,500 Americans had served as drivers in 43 volunteer ambulance stations.

Updated 11/23/2024