Tanner, Tom (d. 1943)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1943 Mar 11 p. 3

Birth date:

text of obituary:

FRIENDS' AMBULANCE UNIT LEADER AND COMPANION REPORTED LOST AT SEA

London. — Many Americans who have known Tom Tanner or who have learned of the work of the Friends' Ambulance Unit, of which he was leader, will be grieved to hear of the reported loss at sea of Mr. Tanner and his travelling companion, Peter Hume.

Units under Mr. Tanner's direction have been active in many theaters of the war. At present the China unit is 80 strong, and is to be reinforced by 14 volunteers from America. Another unit has been operating in Ethiopia since last August, where medical facilities are virtually non-existent and the need prodigious. Another section is working behind the fighting lines in North Africa, while yet another is operating as a mobile hospital in Syria. Horace Alexander, an eminent Quaker authority on the Indian problem, gave up the wardenship of a Birmingham University college last year to lead the FAU in Calcutta. This section has done pioneer work in organizing air raid precautions in Bengal.

The personnel of the FAU numbers 644 men and 24 women. Last year its operating budget was somewhat less than $300,000, despite the magnitude of the task it is undertaking. Tom Tanner was on his way to visit an overseas section when he was reported lost. Three others have been killed in service, and 17 are prisoners of war. These men and women, because of their beliefs, refuse to fight in war, but their contribution to human welfare is unquestionable. (Worldover Press.)