London Transport bus STL469 - Film Star!

"Carve her name with pride", directed by Lewis Gilbert and released in February 1958, told the true story of Violette Szabo in World War II. With Virginia Mckenna in the lead role, the opening scenes show Violette meeting an old school friend (played by Miriam Karlin), working as a bus conductress.

For added authenticity the producers sort out a genuine older bus, STL 469 of 1934 vintage, that had been retained by London Transport on its withdrawl in March 1954 to join its museum fleet. By 1958 the vast majority of the 2,700 STL buses had been broken up, although a few were still running with various operators around the country so finding an STL other than the officially preserved example would have been difficult although not quite impossible.

Happily STL 469 still exists and is one of only four survivors of this large fleet of vehicles (some others also exist having been converted to lorries etc).

Enthusiasts will realise that the bus is painted in the 1950 "all red" livery, incorrect for wartime, but an attempt has been made to produce wartime conditions by the addition of netting across the windows.

The film has been released by Network, and is available to buy on dvd in the UK.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Carve her name with pride
• Virginia McKenna
• Miriam karlin
• London Transport
• bus
• STL 469
• London Transport Museum

[AthenaAndMau]

This is great. Thanks!