My name is Graham Alland, and I started work with the Portsmouth Ambulance Service (Hampshire UK) on the 24th January 1966 on day work, that meant that we took all the patients to different clinics and we also took the disabled children to school, the wage then was about £11 a week. Shift work only became available if one of the shift men left or passed away and it was done on a seniority basis, but it is what all of us daymen waited for, as it was more cash and a chance to do real Ambulance work.
And so after two years, on the 9th March 1968 it was my turn to be promoted to shift work, now I would be on a better wage and the real Ambulance work would begin, although I don't mind admitting to being somewhat apprehensive of the prospects of some of the severe accidents that the service dealt with and how I would react.
My shift vehicle "Victor" (bumpy diesel)
