JF Ptak Science Books LLC Post 1020
As if to underscore what must have been brilliant and courageous actions everywhere, the "motor-omnibus" B-43 was brought to the quadrangle of Buckingham Palace to be received and cheered by the King (in 1920). In fact, the King was saluting the drivers of the bus (even though the caption understates the moment so: "a famous war bus inspected by the King at Buckingham Palace, war drivers cheering His Magesty on leaving"). B-43 saw motor transport service with the British Army from 1914 to 1919, and was at Antwerp, Ypres, Ancre, the Somme and Amiens. It was returned home, upgraded, and pressed back into street service (operating from Willesden and Old Ford).
That's a lot of service.
If you look closely at the detail, you'll see that each one of the men on the bus has got a chest-full of medals.
The second hero is a pigeon whose name is not given, being ingloriously exhibited in a small cage at the Grand Palais Exhibition in 1920. This pigeon was evidently the last of the famous "Verdun Pigeons" who delivered important messages between commands, flying back and forth with important data, dodging bullets and bombs and gas.
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