Fernanda Jacobsen

Fernanda Jacobsen was commandant of the Scottish Ambulance Unit (SAU) which provided humanitarian assistance in three convoys during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). She was appointed an Officer in the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her work in Spain, which continued through the end of the war after the rest of the unit had returned home.

Spanish Civil War First Scottish Ambulance Unit The Spanish Civil War broke out in July 1936 and Glasgow businessman Sir Daniel Macaulay Stevenson funded the creation of the Scottish Ambulance Unit to provide humanitarian help. Fernanda Jacobsen led the first unit of six ambulances and a lorry, with a crew of 19, which set out from Glasgow on 17 September 1936. Over the course of the war there were three such convoys, all led by Jacobsen.

In 1936 the ambulances helped transport the wounded during the retreat from Olias del Rey towards Illescas, Toledo. For their work on the front in Toledo, the SAU was nicknamed Los Brujos (The Wizards), but the unit lost seven crew, all returned to Scotland. Five of the seven were deported by British authorities, accused of looting, including stealing from dead soldiers. The convoy returned home in December 1936 and was praised by Anthony Eden. Jacobsen estimated that the SAU had treated 2,500 wounded and transported 1,000 evacuees. In January 1937 a second convoy, again led by Jacobsen, travelled to Spain. The second SAU expedition focused its efforts on the capital, which was suffering from the bombardment of the Siege of Madrid. Their work was enthusiastically praised in Politica, a newspaper in Madrid. After months of working to evacuate the wounded and provide relief, under pressure from bombings, the second convoy returned in July, to be replaced by a third convoy in September. The three had left the SAU to join the Spanish Medical Aid Committee and thereafter returned to Glasgow where they were making allegations about the SAU, causing donations to drop off. Jacobsen wanted to speak to Major-General Sir Walter Maxwell-Scott, founder of Scottish Friends of National Spain, to address the issue. The appeal was successful and Jacobsen was able to open two porridge canteens in January 1939 to provide food to the starving of Madrid. Jacobsen and her ambulance unit were visited by Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., whose father was then ambassador of the United States to the UK, in February. She continued to run the two canteens throughout the war but after the victory of Francisco Franco in April 1939 one of these was taken by the Falangist relief organisation Auxilio Social, to her fury. Her work continued beyond the end of the war, and she returned to Scotland in August 1939.

Political views Jacobsen was an active member of the Liberal Party and supported the Spanish Government. She received gifts from many people in Spain and one of these, a tortoiseshell and paper hand fan, is displayed at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow. In 1961, Jacobsen ceremonially opened the University of Glasgow Stevenson Physical Education Building in 1961, which was named in honour of Sir Daniel Macaulay Stevenson.