Vintage General Motors Ambulance, 1936

The St John Ambulance Brigade was the only provider of an ambulance service in many parts of England in the mid 20th century. At Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, the Brigade operated an ambulance manufactured by General Motors at its plant in Luton, Bedfordshire. The model in the film was the first ambulance to be built on the chassis of the ‘Bedford’ range of commercial vehicles, and was delivered to the Aylesbury brigade in 1932. The Brigade was a charitable organisation funded by its activities carried out in local areas. In the film, a sick patient is being delivered to the Royal Bucks Hospital in Aylesbury, constructed 70 years earlier as the first purpose-build civilian hospital in Britain.