Largely staffed by pacifists and conscientious objectors, its aim was to provide humanitarian relief and social welfare to civilians affected by World War II.
Key areas of operation included British cities affected by The Blitz, and refugee camps throughout north-west Europe, the Balkans and the Middle-East.
The joint war organisation of the Red Cross and the Order of St John acted as the formal channel between members of COBSRA and the military.
Quakers were well aware of the crimes of the Nazi regime, as the Friends Committee for Refugees and Aliens had been helping people to leave Germany and Austria since 1933, but they, and other members of the FRS, believed that to "draw distinctions on the basis of nationality" was wrong, and that they should be free to treat others as individuals and to use their own judgement.
Roger Wilson described the work of the Friends Relief Service in Britain as "rendering personal service on a human level to those whose physical resources were fairly, or even quite, adequate but who for a variety of reasons were incapable of using them"[2] From 1940 to 1944 the FRS developed into a fairly large relief organisation in Britain, with 200 workers in the field and a transport system capable of linking together more than 50 centres throughout the country.
Teams supplied first aid and canteen help to air raid shelters in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Coventry, Bristol, Southampton, Glasgow, Plymouth and Hull.
The official system had then offered bombed-out older people accommodation in old workhouses, insensitive to the emotional horror this would have for the working classes.
[8] When heavy bombing ceased, in May 1941, the FRS began to focus on social work with British civilians impacted by the war.
In collaboration with other Christian groups, they ran clubs for young people in the cities they had supported during the bombing, whose homes and environments had been destroyed and who might have one or both parents absent or engaged in war work.
[2] In Birmingham the FRS formed a committee with the local Adult School Union to create the Burlington Hall Neighbourhood Centre, which provided social clubs and classes for all ages.
This became independent in 1945, and was open until 1970, when it was subject to a compulsory purchase order by the Corporation of Birmingham[9] The works and equipment section operated stores of clothing, food and furniture around England, taking in donations from the American Friends Service Committee and the International Commission for Refugees as well as businesses and private individuals.
They were initially required for evacuation and refugee hostels in the UK, including those operated by other organisations, but from 1944 they were used to supply overseas work.
In 1944, the FRS decided that rather than begin their own operation in France they would instead offer workers and supplies to support the work of Secours Quaker.
This enabled them to be the first British relief organisation to be granted visas to enter France and aided them in their relations with Allied forces, as well as allowing French control of the work going on in their own country.
The FRS encouraged British people to make "pochettes" - a small coloured tin containing cotton, darning wool, buttons, needles and pins - as a gift to those in Europe who were unable to get those items, and thousands were distributed.
All southern Secours Quaker delegations ran food distribution schemes targeting children, older people, refugees and TB sufferers.
Food and clothes were also supplied to camps holding Axis prisoners of war, collaborators and displaced people in transit.
There were an estimated 60 million people in Europe that had been displaced by fighting, governmental policies on ethnicity and forced labour migration.
They recruited displaced people living in the camps to take on these organisational roles, encouraging autonomy, and supported efforts to create workshops and other employment.
Several emigration schemes were introduced by other countries, and FRS team members began to support those applying with their arrangements, including providing information on their destination and language instruction.
FRS workers looked for opportunities to integrate them into German life, running international clubs where the children and young people could get to know each other.
[11] Led by Lilian Impey, this team left England in February 1945 and had spent two months working in Belgium when it was asked to go to Belsen concentration camp.
[12] The men of the team worked on first aid, transport, water purification and drain repair whilst the women took charge of improvised hospital blocks.
[12] As more doctors and nurses arrived, the FRS workers moved to organising clothing distribution, and helping internees, particularly unaccompanied children, to plan for the future.
After five weeks, FRS 100 was moved to Sulingen, and from there to the Braunschweig area, where they remained for three years, assisting with the care of around 17,500 displaced people.
Led by Michael Lee, this team was stationed first in Langendreer, then at Wattenscheid, primarily working with foreign workers.
Sydney and Joice NanKivell Loch, based in Thessaloniki, ran multiple schemes with the aim of raising the standard of living in local villages, which had been heavily impacted by the Axis occupation and the beginnings of the Greek Civil War.
Many villages in the area had taken significant damage in the fighting, and those returning required help in finding accommodation and ways to support themselves.
The Lochs and other workers continued to support education and work opportunities, encouraging the refugees to take on leadership roles and to start schools and clubs.
Rowntree helped all those accessing this scheme to arrange travel and transit visas, and co-ordinated with the FCRA in London who would meet them on arrival.