On this day 71 years ago (24/10/45) members of the AAGB gathered at Buckingham palace for their stand down parade. They were inspected by various dignitaries including HM Queen Elizabeth (Queen Mother). A cutting from the evening standard reads:
THE QUEEN REVIEWS 200 GIRL DRIVERS Two hundred girl drivers of the American Ambulance were being reviewed to-day by the Queen at a stand-down parade at Buckingham Palace. The service will be disbanded on November 3. Among the drivers – representing units from all parts of England and Wales – are girls with whom the Queen talked during her tours of the bombed cities with the King. The service was formed in 1940 with funds raised among Americans living in Britain. Latter it was supported by the British War Relief Society of America at a cost of more than £2000 a week. Its fleet of 300 ambulances have covered a total of 17 million miles.
The first image below is Driver Bacon’s card showing er order in the procession, it shows that she shared the cab with Robinson and also that she carried 8 others in the back of her ambulance. The photo shows the ladies under inspection.
The American Ambulance Great Britain Project 