Bringing it up to date
As Laurence suggested, aeroplanes were a relatively new form of warfare in World War I. Along with other new weapons, such as tanks and poison gas, they came to dominate warfare for much of the twentieth century. During World War I, as today, several arms companies happily sold weapons to countries fighting against each other.
At their Yearly Meeting held 2-9 August 2014 in the University of Bath, Quakers in Britian called on the UK Government for an arms embargo.
“The anniversary of World War I reminds us how easily militarised societies can slide into armed conflict and become blind to the alternatives to war. At such times, the international community has a responsibility to avoid fuelling the conflict. We join others in asking for a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel, Hamas and armed Palestinian groups. Quakers in Britain ask the UK Government to take a lead on this by halting arms exports to Israel."
Read the full Britain Yearly Meeting (Quakers in Britain) statement on Israel/Palestine www.quaker.org.uk/news/quakers-urge-recognition-palestine.
Related Materials
By December, Laurence was heavily involved in running ambulances in the Ypres area of Belgium and nearby parts of France. His enthusiasm for cars proved to be useful.
Germany and Britain, along with other countries, had increased military spending in the run-up to the war. This arms race is considered by many historians to have been one of the factors that made war more likely.