BEF Ambulance Vehicles

Discussion in '1940' started by 4/7 RDG, Dec 3, 2010.

  1. 4/7 RDG

    4/7 RDG Member

    Andrew - no, I tried searching online but couldn't trace it
     
  2. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    There are a number of vehicle shots from the same date on the IWM site but none give location.

    I'm pretty sure that it's No.1 General Hospital in the Casino at Dieppe. It looks as if the 19th Century building which features in the old postcards gained a pair of later Art Deco wings which didn't survive the German Atlantic Wall modifications.

    This is the only on-line image that I can find.

    Dieppe Casino
     
  3. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    Rich

    I like the AA combination (if that's what it is) but am frustrated by the markings. I can find no references anywhere. I thought at firts the unit marking was a trotting elephant (apparently belonging to 4 Corps) but it looks more like a Kiwi.

    Andrew

    Andrew, it is indeed the larger 'AA Box' fitted to a sidecar wheel drive Norton combination.

    I thought that the sign looked like an arse-about-face Kiwi but I can't track it down. I wonder if the censor deliberately altered the 4 Corps sign rather than putting the usual blob over it (Make the hun think we've got more units !). The sign on the outfit doesn't look quite like that on the road sign.
     
  4. May1940

    May1940 Senior Member

  5. 4/7 RDG

    4/7 RDG Member

    There are a number of vehicle shots from the same date on the IWM site but none give location.

    I'm pretty sure that it's No.1 General Hospital in the Casino at Dieppe. It looks as if the 19th Century building which features in the old postcards gained a pair of later Art Deco wings which didn't survive the German Atlantic Wall modifications.

    This is the only on-line image that I can find.

    Dieppe Casino

    It looks exactly the right setting to me. So could the dark numeral "1" on a small white plate inside the windscreen (passenger side) refer to No1 General Hospital rather than identifying the vehicle itself?
     
  6. JCB

    JCB Senior Member

    Heres a picture of those civvy style Bedfords 1940 but in UK , shame the FANY gals are in the way. And also a few distant K2's
     

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  7. May1940

    May1940 Senior Member

    JCB

    Thanks for the Bedfords - one of the clearest pictures I have seen.

    Here are a couple of Morris CS 11/30F s. I think neither are in France. They seem to have had both vertical and sloping windscreens, although I have only seen vertical in France. Anyone know the reason for the difference?

    http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/attachments/1940/42105d1292602007-bef-ambulance-vehicles-morris-cs11-30f-amb-jpg

    http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/attachments/1940/42106d1292602007-bef-ambulance-vehicles-morris-cs11-30f-ambulance-sloping-windscreen-jpg


    Andrew
     

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  8. 4/7 RDG

    4/7 RDG Member

    Reading through "Last of the Few" by Max Arthur, I came across the account of RAF Pilot Officer Frank Carey of 3 Sqn who was shot down during the Battle of France and wounded in the leg. He parachuted out, got picked up by Belgian motorcyclists before being taken with other walking wounded by truck to a village south of Brussels:

    We then got into a 1914 Crossley ambulance where they asked us if we would hold down a poor chap who was badly shattered in the pelvis . . .
    He went first to a CCS, then to a hospital at Dieppe, where he was put in the same ward as the Duke of Norfolk (who had gout).

    So, is it reasonable to include 1914 Crossleys as part of the 1940 BEF ambulance vehicle establishment? Is the "hospital at Dieppe" the same Number 1 Field Hospital referred to earlier on this thread?

    Someone mentioned collating all BEF vehicle types on a future thread, so 1914 Crossley must be one of the more unexpected . . .
     
  9. May1940

    May1940 Senior Member

    I think it might have been me. I can begin to imagine a thread populated with pushchairs, ice-cream vans and tricycles all somehow smuggled into France by their devoted owners ...
     
  10. 4/7 RDG

    4/7 RDG Member

    Sorry, my memory is lapsing and I couldn't remember which thread it was mentioned on - but it sounds like a worthwhile (if daunting) project.

    Maybe restrict it to four wheels plus, though (would that include prams?) . . .

    I was recently reading about a British officer who took two dogs to France, each with a collar tag reading "by order of Lord Gort" - and you can't argue with that!"
     
  11. researchingreg

    researchingreg Well-Known Member

    Here is a photo of an Austin Ambulance taken on 9 May 1940, so it was in good nick. My father in law used these vehicles in his RASC unit 6th MAC at Dunkirk.
     

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  12. Neilie

    Neilie Member

    This is an old thread but a friend found this recently while looking for info on Bedford ML's with the BEF. The ambulance on the right is definitely a Bedford ML. My model is in progress.

    Cheers,

    Neil
     

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  13. morrisc8

    morrisc8 Under the Bed

    Here are a few of BEF Amb photos from my collection.
    Keith
    dunkirk amblance A24409 aos 104 A4.jpg morris amblance 1940.jpg bef bedford amb (2019_01_08 13_19_49 UTC).jpg dunkirk morris amb.jpg austin amb.jpg amb 1940.jpg morris amb 2.jpg morris amb.jpg BEF 1940 Morris ambulance in a German salvage dump.jpg
     
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  14. Neilie

    Neilie Member

    Some great views....thanks for posting.

    Cheers,

    Neil
     
  15. JCB

    JCB Senior Member

    I wonder what the rationale was to not fitting cab doors to the ubiquitous Austin K2 ambulance through to the end of the war ?

    Craig
     
  16. chrisgrove

    chrisgrove Senior Member

    Hi Craig
    When I went to Sandhurst in 1959, the MRS (Medical Reception Station) still had an Austin K2, still without doors!
    Chris
     
  17. JCB

    JCB Senior Member

    Some Bedfords - first two 1938/39 WH's with with original style square cab and ' new' front end. Third one an ML which had the new cab and new front end introduced June 1939..
    Vanderveen says 398 ML's were supplied in 1939 numbered A23358 and A23401-797.
    Did this batch all have box bodies or were some integral like K2's? the answer is probably in photos on this forum :)
    Craig
    BEDFORD ML A.JPG bEDFORD ML B.jpg bEDFORD ML C.jpg
     
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2020
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