Hamble, Hampshire.

Fade in to M/S of two men, Vic Pitt and Peter Downs in white overalls preparing the Hover Stretcher, for use in a field. On the side of the machine is the word 'Folland'; Folland Aircraft made the device. M/Ss and C/Us of nurse Muriel Smith helping an old man (Fred Olding) to lie down on a stretcher and covering him with a blanket. The attendants pick up the stretcher and place him on one side of the Hover Stretcher as commentator says "The prototype, carrying two stretchers at a time has been developed by an aircraft firm...[sic] in collaboration with the Royal Army Medical Corps".

The nurse attends to a patient, Alan Tripp, already on the other side of the Hover Stretcher; the men start up the machine and when the base inflates they start to walk off, one holds handlebars at the front, one takes the bars at the rear. The nurse just walks along next to it.

They travel over the grass; the contraption seems to be blowing up quite a lot of dust; the two patients are covered with bits of cut grass! Commentator tells us "In battlefield evacuation, for example, it could carry a pay load of 1500 lbs and yet be easily manoeuvred by two people". The men take the Hover Stretcher over a flower bed where it blows up a huge cloud of dust! Commentator says "Still in the experimental stage, one future development would be some form of protection for the patient, from dust forced up" - I agree!

They move easily from the grass verge to a concrete path and arrive at a building where the men carry a patient in, while the nurse talks to Mr JB Chaplin, the Chief Development Engineer of the machine.

Note: on file is a press release from Folland Aircraft about the carrier, a small magazine cutting and two B/W photos of another amphibious hovercraft by Folland. Cuts exist - see separate record.