Description:An ambulance marked 'American Ambulance - Great Britain' on the passenger door with auxiliaries and Army personnel, pictured on the drive outside Heath House, near Tean during a voluntary blood donation day. With the support of the Phillips family, Heath House was used as a Red Cross Auxiliary Hospital between 1941 and 1946.
The ambulance in the picture is based upon a Fordson 10cwt van, built in the Dagenham factory. The American connection is more likely to do with where the funds came from to buy and to service it, or possibly it was used for the welfare of the American servicemen sent here. It was certainly British built. The name Fordson was used on the commercial vehicles built by the Ford company, and originated on their tractors in the 1920s for legal reasons. Fordson was dropped in the early 1950s and the brand name became Thames, then reverted to Ford in the sixties. The mechanical parts of these vans were based upon the Ford Prefect 10hp model.
(Information courtesy of John Robins)
Photographer: Gerald McCann of High Street, Uttoxeter.