by Froom Tyler
A Programme in Honour of the Priory of Wales

In the eleventh century, certain merchants of Amaia founded a hospital for pilgrims at Jerusalem, and so began the Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John. Dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, the Order was in its earlier days purely a healing brotherhood, but subsequently it adopted a military character and took a valiant part in the Crusades.
In 1291 the Christians were driven out of Palestine and the Knights of Saint John removed to Cyprus, and then, in 1310, to Rhodes. They were compelled to surrender this island in 1522, and next settled at Malta, where, in 1565, they resisted a terrific siege by the Turks. In 1877 the ancient Order, having been revived in England, found a way to carry on, in a practical manner, its traditions as a healing brotherhood, and so was founded, as a department of the Order, the St. John Ambulance Association.
The first centre of the St. John Ambulance Association in Wales was established in Cardiff in 1882. A Priory of the Order was founded in Wales in 1918, with the Prince of Wales as Prior.

Tonight's programme presents four scenes illustrating the history and work of the Order.
I. The Holy Land, 1192
In the tent of Richard Coeur de Lion
Andrew, Alberto Knights of Saint John
Richard Coeur de Lion
II. Malta, 1565
Down on the ramparts
Gilbert, Pedro Knights of Saint John
III. France, 1918
In No-Man's-Land during a British Offensive
A Soldier
A Modern Knight of Saint John
The Spirit of Gilbert
The Spirit of Pedro
IV. A Street in Cardiff, 1929
Among the traffic and crowds
An Old Man
A Passer-by
A St. John Ambulance Man
The Spirit of Gilbert
The Spirit of Pedro