During the First World War the Great Western Railway operated continental ambulance trains in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Picardy and Normandy. Their function was to pick up sick and wounded soldiers from casualty-clearing stations behind the lines and take them to hospitals. Each carriage could accommodate 36 stretcher beds and each train had a permanent staff of medical officers and nurses who lived on board. This 1:12-inch scale model is a replica of Train No. 19, which entered service in France in 1916 and visited more than 100 stations. The scale model formed part of King George V’s collection of war memorabilia.