Great war bus to be restored with Lottery cash

[Great War truck]

well that makes me feel a little better about all the tickets i bought and never won anything. But £750,000! That seems a tad on the high side to me. I knew they had bought the bus, but the lack of engine and gearbox might prove a little problematic. Maybe thats what they need the other £740,000 for?

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22173782

 

A bus once driven from the streets of London to the battlefields of France to help the World War I effort is to be restored.

 

The B-type bus was one of more than a thousand taken to the trenches of the Western Front.

 

It will be restored to full working order with a £750,000 lottery grant.

 

The buses were commandeered to act as troop transports, ambulances and even mobile pigeon lofts to house carrier pigeons.

 

Civilian drivers and mechanics went with them to the front, often into dangerous territory.

 

The B-type's unique design, using standardised interchangeable components, made it ideal for rigorous wartime use.

 

The project will be undertaken by the London Transport Museum.

 

It will be completed by 2014, to coincide with the centenary of the outbreak of hostilities.

 

Sam Mullins, director of London Transport Museum, said 2014 would be "an occasion for remembrance and a watershed in commemorating both the sacrifice and social impact of these years on London and the UK".

 

"Our project will restore a B-type Battle Bus to its wartime condition, when over one thousand London bus drivers ferried troops to the Western Front and brought the wounded home.

 

"The B-type was the first standardised motorbus for London and, through this project, one of the last known surviving examples will be returned to working order as wartime troop transport.

[thedawnpatrol]

But where has it been all these years ? every time i look at 'Old Bill' at the IWM i can't help wondering what that saw and the fact that it is still in its 1920's paint is amazing.

it will be nice to see this one restored on 'olive drab'

 

 

Jules

[Whittingham warrior]

£750,000 to restore a bus! sounds more like everyone is jumping on the band wagon

[Minesweeper]

£750,000 to restore a bus! sounds more like everyone is jumping on the band wagon

 

Surely, that figure just cannot be right! Must be too many "000's" on it.

 

Tony

[GeePig]

Maybe they have only a rather bare chassis, and little time.

[Pzkpfw-e]

That front end's familiar.<br>I'm sure somebody, either here on over on the Landships forum, posted a photo of a chassis & bonnet of it, taken at Duxford, in outside storage?

[griff66]

if you are going to ask for a grant ask for a large one!

[Rlangham]

 

Surely, that figure just cannot be right! Must be too many "000's" on it.

 

Tony

 

Could include other activities being undertaken by the London Transport Museum, exhibitions, awareness campaigns, attendance at events for the vehicle etc etc etc

[Tony B]

One of my few perks of the job is free entry to the museum. They already have a B on static display and have live actors doing living history. I once put one right off by wincing every time they got a Great War fact wrong.:blush: