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Concurrently with these changes, arrangements were made to discontinue the
maintenance of separate stores at each of the six general ambulance stations and to
centralise these in the existing headquarters stores. The preparation of local wages sheets
at the general stations, also, was discontinued and this work was absorbed by the department's
central finance section.
The lying-in-slate and funeral procession of His late Majesty, King George VI
Among the special tasks falling to the service during the year was the removal of
casualties from among the very large number of people witnessing the lying-in-state
and funeral procession of His late Majesty, King George VI.
At the request of the Lord Great Chamberlain an accident ambulance was stationed
in the courtyard adjacent to Westminster Hall from 3 p.m. on Monday, 11th February,
and a stretcher party of two drivers stood by at the Hall from 8 a.m. on Tuesday,
12th February. On the day of the funeral, Friday, 15th February, following consultation
with the metropolitan police, a number of ambulances stationed near the route of the
procession were specially reserved for emergency purposes and, at the request of the
Railway Executive, an accident ambulance stood by at Paddington Station from 7.30 a.m.
until the funeral train had departed. Letters of thanks for the arrangements made were
received from the Lord Great Chamberlain and from the Railway Executive.
Festival of Britain—South Bank site demolition
Direct telephone communication between the South Bank Exhibition site and the
central control room was maintained during the demolition of the exhibition buildings
and a total of nine emergency calls, involving ten patients, were received during the year.
Major accidents
The emergency call involving the removal of the greatest number of casualties during
the year was to the London Pavilion on 10th April, where a plaster cast light fitting had
fallen from the dress circle into the stalls. Twenty-three casualties were conveyed to
various hospitals.
Among other major accidents were:
21st April 11 persons overcome by gas fumes in a deep tunnel in
Holborn and taken to hospital.
21st April Collision between two buses in Rye Lane, Camberwell;
21 casualties taken to hospital.
16th June Collision between a bus and a coach at Hyde Park Corner;
22 casualties taken to hospital.
16th August Collision between a bus, a coach and a taxi in Brixton Road,
Lambeth; 11 casualties taken to hospital.
17th August Collision between two buses in King's Road, Chelsea; 14
casualties taken to hospital.
30th December Bus caught on Tower Bridge as one half of the bridge began
to rise; 13 casualties taken to hospital.
In addition to these accidents, with which the service was directly concerned,
assistance was rendered to the Middlesex Fire and Ambulance Service in the task of
dealing with the very large number of casualties resulting from the railway accident at
Harrow and Wealdstone Station on 8th October. Six ambulance vehicles in all were
made available to that service for varying periods on the day of the disaster.
Following this tragic incident, advantage was taken of the experience of the Middlesex
service to review and improve the already existing procedure for dealing with major
accidents and to augment the reserve stock of equipment held against the possibility of
an accident of similar magnitude occurring within the County of London.