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This story was told to East Ayrshire Library Staff by Jean Nicol (now Gibson)
during a People’s War Tea Party at the Dick Institute on 27th April 2005.
Jean has a memory of the war involving her late father, Mr Tom Nicol of T. Nicol and Sons, haulage contractors, Boyd Street, Kilmarnock. Tom was approached by Kilmarnock Infirmary (which was in Wellington Street at the time) to see if he would be prepared to service and maintain an Ambulance which was to be kept at the firm’s premises at Boyd Street. This vehicle was to contain a fully equipped mobile operating theatre, which could be moved to any area nearby in the event of an emergency e.g. bomb damage to the Infirmary putting their operating theatres out of action.
This Tom agreed to do – but he was told that on no account was anyone to attempt to enter the vehicle. In fact, he was asked not to speak to anyone about the van. Mr G. Ralston – the Kilmarnock Infirmary surgeon and another man came to the firm’s premises at regular intervals to check on the contents of the Theatre and to add to them or upgrade as necessary. The mobile theatre was then duly sealed up again until they next called.
Jean thinks that the mobile theatre was used on the night the bomb was dropped on Culzean Crescent in Kilmarnock. When she thinks of it now it seems so dated (like Jones’s van from Dad’s Army)although then it would have contained what was considered to be the state of the art instruments.

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