The Cold War
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NATOs first mobile exhibitions consisted of trucks, trailers and tents. Here, the mobile information centre can be seen leaving NATO HQ at Palais de Chaillot in Paris.
In 1952, the mobile exhibition travelled to its first destination, Italy. It then continued on its journey, visiting Greece and Turkey.
The truck carrying the "Sulh Yolu" ("The road for peace") exhibition had to be ferried over to the eastern shores of Turkey. It stopped off in 31 Turkish cities.
The British exhibition was opened by the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Selwyn Lloyd, in Canterbury in April 1957. The mobile information centre travelled to the south coast of the UK, East Anglia, Yorkshire and the Midlands over a period of three months.
Every day, local radio stations would broadcast messages informing listeners where the exhibition would be that day. The exhibition was up and running in just one hour, and music was played through loudspeakers to attract visitors.
The inauguration ceremony for NATO's new information bus was held in front of NATO HQ at Porte Dauphine in Paris in October 1960.
The new fully equipped vehicle was expandable and its movie theatre could seat 50 adults or 60 children.
Just like its predecessor, it showed films on a large outdoor screen, but there was also a smaller, built-in screen at the back. The NATO bus In Rome.
The screenings often attracted large, attentive crowds. The NATO bus in Portugal.
An officer of the armed forces of the country visited would escort the information bus, give a presentation on NATO and answer questions from visitors.
As well as the driver, the officer also had a technician by his side, as the journey often threw up some surprises...
The NATO bus had to cross rivers...
And some of the roads it took were not the best!
Which sometimes left it feeling a bit flat!
The last two information buses completed their grand tour at NATO HQ in Brussels in the 1970s.
Bill Thompson was one of the last officers in charge of the NATO mobile information centre.