Another P.O.W. Comes Home
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Austin Ambulance. Returns to Blighty After Five Ywrs War Service THIS story, which has been related by a Polish driver, deals with . an Austin" ambulance which, despite having been in the service of the enemy since 1940, is. now back home after being recaptured in France,
When it was abandoned during, the retreat to Dunkirk, there was little time to smash it up beyond repair and so, with only ..its electrical _equipment put out of action, the enemy was not long in putting it back into service.
When it emerged from the German repair depot it had Bosch electrical equipment .and many additional features, Each as anal:ter front seat,and doors added to the cab, whilst the body
was conipletely metal panelled. •
A new first-aid cabinet and a cupboard, had been built in, brackets fitted to carry the special " jerrycans," and it was' equipped with rear lamps as developed by the Germans to promote safety in night convoy work. .
They must have thought quite a lot of Austin products to have gone to so much, trouble in the early stages of the war, when they undoubtedly possessed anarthous numbers of their own Vehicles.
However, such it was, and it continued on its errands.of mercy throughout France and Germany until it was eventually posted to the Russian Front. Here it had to withstand the rigours Of winter operation, and one would have thought thatit would have seen its last days on the Eastern Front.
This was not so, however, as, with the reopening of the Western Front, the machine made another trip across Germany, and again turned up in France. It was during the course of
a battle at. commeux on August 20 that the ambulance was recaptured by the British; complete with its driver.
Holes caused by shell fragments and bullets bore testimony to its having been through the thick of the fighting, but it was still capable of putting up•a reasonable performance, Field Marshal Mbntgomery, impressed by its history and appreciative of services rendered, recommended that it be sent back to its maker at Longbridge. .
On its return to this country it was found that it was in need of an engine overhaul, and that the brakes, needed refacing. The Austin Motor 'Co., Ltd., informs 'us that the machine now carries the following inscription:—" Austin K2 ambulance as recaptured from the Nazis • at Commeux, France, on August 20, 1944. Presentedto the Austin Motor Co. by the Commanderin-Chief, 21st Army Group:.