PIONEER OF MINERS' MOTOR AMBULANCES.
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Inclusion in the list of those to whom honours have recently been awarded of the name of Capt. Dennis Bayley, D.L., of Lenten Abbey, Nottingham, as that of a knight of the newly-created Order of the British, Empire, has aroused interest throughout a wide area. •Ide was the pioneer 'of the movement which resulted in sending splendidly-equipped fleets of Red Cross Motor ambulances for work iltk the Front, 'the cost of which, running into many thousands of pounds, has been defrayed. by., the joint contributions of working miners and owners of pits. Throwing abundant .energy into the movement; Capt. Bayley, who comes of an old Nottinghamshire family, con
ceived the idea, in theearly stages of . . .
the war, of appealing to all concerned in colliery work in Notts. and Derbyshire, being admirably qualified to undertake the matter by reason of his position as managing director of the important Digby.group of collieries in the immediate neighbourhood of Nottingham. No time was lost, after they had been placed at the disposal of theWar Office authorities, in despatching the ambulances . to the Front, and it was an encouraging feature of the subservient experience in relation to the undertaking that, in letters received from Notts. and Derbyshire men serving at the Front, there was more than one reference to wounded men associated with the two,eounties having been picked up for conveyance to the hose hos
pitals or elsewhere by the cars bearing the names of the counties from Which they hailed. In this way many miners who were either too old or . from other causes prevented from going to the Front. were brought almest to feel that they were taking some direct part in the war, for the generosity of both pitowners and i •
.men was not limited to the initial outlay in the purchase of the-cars, considerable though that was, contributions being continned froni which their upkeep was maintained. The marked success attending the first stage of the movement, followed by Capt. Bayley's stirring personal appeals, caused the work to be extended to other. counties.