Hi Maddox:
The wheels are 26 x 1 3/8.
I understand what you say about living in the Western US and trying to find vintage bikes. I live in San Diego. I drove up to San Francisco In November for my DL-1s. You might want to look in the bay area. A few weeks ago, a woman had a Gazelle step through loop bike (more modern than vintage, but still evocative of that "look" all us ladies are oogling!) for sale near Sacramento. It was a fair price, too.
I'll take a photo of the damage to the frame and also as close up as I can get on the fork. I took it to an LBS and they just shook their heads...but then again, I am not sure this particular LBS knows all that much about the old english bikes. They swore I made an error when I told them I ordered 28" tires. They said "so rare I doubt you'd ever find one..."
Here is my description of the damage: there are two buckles right next to the down tube -- so it is certainly buckled, but not a lot (but maybe too much in that the bend conflicts with the rest of the bike's geometry). There is very minor paint cracking as well. I am not at all a bike expert and I really can't tell if there was damage to the fork. There might be damage there as well, but I don't know if structurally it is the same "kiss-of-death" a bent frame is.
I know that once steel transitions from its elastic stage to its plastic stage (by bending, for example), it is considered forever compromised. Question is: is it so compromised that it cannot bend back and remain relatively shatter resistant.