Fernanda Jacobsen and the Scottish Ambulance Unit during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)

Abstract

When Civil War broke out in Spain in July 1936, the Republic made a worldwide plea for humanitarian assistance. Many thousands of people around the world rallied to the call, the Scottish Ambulance Unit among them. The only woman in the twenty-strong team was the unit’s commandant, Fernanda Jacobsen. She would remain at the unit’s helm on each of its successive expeditions to Spain, spanning a period of roughly two years, from September 1936 to July 1938. Despite its tremendous and sustained humanitarian contribution in and around the besieged Spanish capital of Madrid, the Scottish unit has not received the recognition afforded similar enterprises in the now vast literature on the Spanish Civil War. This article will examine the possible reasons for this. It will discuss previously unexplored documentary evidence and re-examine existing records in an attempt to shed light on the causes of internal struggles in the unit that led, eventually, to the resignation of some of its members.