Good photo of WWI ambulance

[Killingholme]

Hi all,

 

Just stumbled across this really good photo of a WWI Ambulance in the Historic England archive collection. Might be useful for anyone who's bought the recent Roden kit!

 

 

It is part of the Bedford Lemere collection- they were professional photographers who did jobs for big corporate clients in the late 19th century- early 20th.  They were commissioned to photograph everything from London's first skyscrapers to the interiors of Ocean liners. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedford_Lemere 

 

Historic England holds the surviving archive- nearly 25,000 company photos are digitised online.

 

 https://images.historicenglandservices.org.uk/motor-ambulance-bl23011/print/8701073.html

Edited June 20, 2018 by Killingholme

[Black Knight]

Its a nice photo

The RODEN kit is a Vauxhall D-Type

I think the one in the photo is a Crossle

[Kingsman]

Similar upper bodywork to the Vauxhall.  There were myriad chassis used for ambulances in WW1, especially those bought by public subscription - as this one clearly was.

 

I think from the text on the side that this ambulance was paid for by the good citizens of Victoria, Australia (the only Australian state to have its own navy).  Melbourne Place in London is the location of the Australian High Commission - the building behind the vehicle.  One might assume that the fella in the top hat is the High Commissioner and this is the formal presentation of the shiny new vehicle to whichever of the many ambulance organisations was to receive it.