RAC Volunteer Drivers in WWI: From Racing Enthusiasts to War Heroes
In August 1914, 25 members of the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) volunteered to serve as drivers for the British Expeditionary Force in France, bringing their own cars. Led by Toby Rawlinson, a 47-year-old ex-Olympic polo gold medalist, the unit included wealthy amateurs, racers, and adventurers. They performed crucial roles as couriers, scouts, and ambulance drivers during the war's opening months, witnessing the transition to mechanized warfare. Their contributions were largely forgotten, but they helped maintain communication between Allied forces during critical battles like the Marne and Ypres. The unit became obsolete as trench warfare set in, and members went on to varied fates: Rawlinson later organized London's air defenses, Baker-Carr helped develop tanks, and James Rothschild served in the Jewish Legion. The article also highlights the RAC's role in the mechanization of war, with its members embodying the shift from cavalry to machines.
Key facts
- 25 members of the Royal Automobile Club volunteered as drivers in WWI, bringing their own cars.
- Toby Rawlinson, a 47-year-old ex-Olympic polo gold medalist, led the unit.
- The volunteers served as couriers, scouts, and ambulance drivers in France and Belgium.
- They participated in key battles including the Marne and Ypres.
- The unit became obsolete as trench warfare set in.
- Rawlinson later organized London's air defenses against zeppelin attacks.
- Baker-Carr helped create the Machine Gun Corps and develop early tanks.
- James Rothschild served in the Jewish Legion in Palestine and later became an MP.
Entities
Artists
- Toby Rawlinson
- Christopher D’Arcy Bloomfield Saltern Baker-Carr
- Jimmy Radley
- H. Stanley Westcott
- Hugh Grosvenor (Duke of Westminster)
- Frederic Abernathy Coleman
- James Armand de Rothschild
- Winston Churchill
- Arthur Conan Doyle
- Edward Shrapnell-Smith
- Henry Rawlinson (brother)
- Henry Creswicke Rawlinson (father)
- Charles Rolls
- Enzo Ferrari
- Coco Chanel
- General Joseph-Simon Gallieni
- Field Marshal John French
- Herbert Kitchener
- Major James Shea
- Sarah Jane Bulwer-Long
- Andrew Rawlinson (Puddy)
- A.J. Smithers
- Joshua Hammer
- Jooney Woodward
Institutions
- Royal Automobile Club (RAC)
- British Expeditionary Force
- Hudson Motor Car Company
- Rolls-Royce
- White Motor Car Company
- Diatto
- Hispano-Suiza
- Mercedes
- Peugeot
- National World War I Museum
- Imperial War Museum
- Aberystwyth University
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Bibliothèque Nationale de France
- Smithsonian magazine
- Motor Sport magazine
Locations
- Landrecies, France
- France
- Belgium
- London, United Kingdom
- United Kingdom
- Paris, France
- Marne River, France
- Ypres, Belgium
- Antwerp, Belgium
- Le Havre, France
- Amiens, France
- Boulogne, France
- Southampton, United Kingdom
- Cheshire, United Kingdom
- Scotland, United Kingdom
- Cornwall, United Kingdom
- Yorkshire, United Kingdom
- Turin, Italy
- Cleveland, United States
- Detroit, United States
- Sarajevo, Bosnia
- Austria-Hungary
- Germany
- Lyon, France
- Vienna, Austria
- Isle of Man
- Bournemouth, United Kingdom
- Norfolk, United Kingdom
- East Anglia, United Kingdom
- Gunthorpe, United Kingdom
- Heydon Hall, United Kingdom
- Surrey, United Kingdom
- Pall Mall, London
- Buckingham Palace, London
- Champs-Élysées, Paris
- Gare d'Austerlitz, Paris
- Gare de Lyon, Paris
- Hôtel des Invalides, Paris
- Bordeaux, France
- Dammartin, France
- Le Cateau, France
- Messines, Belgium
- Ostend, Belgium
- Bruges, Belgium
- Caucasus
- Anatolia, Turkey
- Erzeroum, Turkey
- Palestine
- India
- Sudan
- China
- United States