Chevrolet Ambulance in WW2.
This unique snapshot will date to the early years of WW2, and is interesting for a number of reasons. Firstly the panel van, equipped as an ambulance. It's a Chevrolet, probably built in 1940 although the 1941-on version was very similar from this angle. The signwriting on the side sheds light on the reason for the photograph being taken - it reads: "Stratford War Relief Committee, Stratford, Connecticut, USA". Evidently, local fundraising had paid for the purchase of the van direct from Chevrolet, and the vehicle was clearly brand new at the time.
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Fortunately, there are handwritten notes on the reverse of the photo. The first reads: "We sent this ambulance to Stratford on Avon England". The second note gives the names of the people stood alongside the Chevrolet: "Thomas - Mr Preston (member) and Mr & Mrs George Thurkettle". Were Mr & Mrs Thurkettle representatives sent over from England, perhaps to formally take ownership of the ambulance on behalf of the town? And which gent was Mr Thurkettle, and which was Mr Preston?
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There don't seem to be any specific records relating to the Stratford War Relief Committee online, so more information on this organisation would be welcomed.
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As for George Thurkettle, there are records online of gents thus named living in Stratford, Connecticut, one who was born in 1880 and who died in 1966. This individual was born in England, but by 1935 was a resident of Stratford, Fairfield, Connecticut. Perhaps this is the gent in question, organising fundraising efforts to pay for an ambulance destined for his countryfolk back in England? I wonder if it survived the trip across the Atlantic...
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More information will be added to this page if/when it turns up.
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Return to Page 18 in the photographic archive. Alternatively, visit the main index of images here.
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Photographs of contemporary Chevrolet pickup trucks, working on farms in the USA, may be found on this page, also at OCC.
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