London's Last Blitz Ambulance Gets Its Remembrance Sunday Close-Up

London’s only known surviving Blitz ambulance, a 1935 Clements Talbot, will be on ITV’s Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh at 9.30am on Remembrance Sunday, 8 November. The ambulance belongs to the London Ambulance Service Historic Collection, the heritage arm of the service that answers 999 and 111 calls across Richmond upon Thames and the rest of the capital.

The programme’s remembrance episode brings together emergency service vehicles that were used during the war years, at Manor Farm in Hampshire, where the series is filmed. Viewers will hear the Talbot’s history.

Craig Henty, Head of the London Ambulance Service Historic Collection, joined Alan Titchmarsh for the filming.

“Alan Titchmarsh was as lovely in person as he is on our TV screens, and he has a real love of heritage vehicles, so of course he was very interested in hearing how the Talbot was used during the Blitz,” he said.

“For me, the pleasure is in bringing its rich history to life and helping more people discover the ambulance and the incredible men and women who worked in it during such a challenging and frightening time in our history.”

Four stretchers through the rubble

The Talbot is built from wood and steel. It entered service in 1935 and stayed in use until around 1950, the service says.

During the Blitz, ambulance crews, many of them women volunteers, went out while incendiary bombs were falling. They had to steer through rubble to reach people trapped in bomb-damaged buildings, then take the injured to hospital. Extra brackets were fitted to the Talbot so it could carry four patient stretchers instead of two.

Mr Henty keeps it stocked with medical equipment from the period, along with other wartime items including tin helmets and gas masks.

Back on the road

After years off the road, the ambulance was restored to running condition with help from the Talbot Owners Club. Donations from members of the public helped pay for specialist parts.

Since the restoration it has been shown around the south east, including beside a Spitfire at Imperial War Museum Duxford’s History Festival in 2025.

It is no stranger to cameras. The Talbot has appeared in the war film Battle of Britain, the TV series Poirot and, more recently, Channel 5’s The Blitz with Rob Rinder and Ruth Goodman.

How to watch

More about the vehicles and the service’s past is on the London Ambulance Service Historic Collection page. The service’s announcement is in its newsroom.