OAKWOOD HOSPITAL - 1957

Three members of the Kent Fire Brigade died in the aftermath of a fire at a psychiatric hospital in November 1957.

From Kent History Forum

The fire which broke out at Oakwood Mental Hospital on 29th November 1957 will never be forgotten by the Brigade as amongst the six killed at the scene were three Brigade personnel. An emergency call was made by the night Nursing Superintendent immediately he discovered the fire whilst making his rounds.

The call was received at Maidstone Fire Station at 06.40 hours and were on the scene within four minutes. On arrival the Brigade found hospital staff fighting the fire with a jet, direct from a hydrant. Faced with a developing fire situation at first floor level adjacent to the wards containing 350 mentally ill patients, the officer-in-charge of the two appliances and Turntable Ladder despatched in the initial response got to work after "making pumps 6" at 06.48.

Having started in the tailor's shop on the first floor, the fire raged out of control through the workshop wing, the printer's shop, the library, a staff rest room, the TV room and upwards into the roof. The fire was brought under control by six jets and the "Stop" message was sent at 07.30.

Adjacent to the section of the building where the fire had occurred was a brick built ventilation tower 115 ft in height.

Whilst the cleaning up operations were in progress and half the personnel were enjoying a well earned cup of tea, at 10.01 without any warning, the tower collapsed completely falling on the workshop block and causing the destruction of the building around it. Buried beneath the tons of masonry were several members of the Brigade and also some Oakwood staff including the hospitals Chief fireman. Others were trapped on all levels of the building from the basement to the first floor, some being in considerable danger.

The rescue operations commenced without delay and were organised by Brigade Control with firemen and hospital staff and a request was made for the  attendance of Civil Defence Rescue Parties who responded within a very short time from six towns and who were very quickly at work.

Working in extremely dangerous conditions, under large quantities of bricks and rubble and soaking wet, fire weakened timbers, the rescuers struggled through the remains of the workshops wing to rescue those who had been injured.

Recovered form the wreckage were the three bodies of the firemen who had been killed. Retained Station Officer SE Pearce who had been digging through the rubble searching for casualties found a partially buried body. After further frantic digging through the debris he discovered to his distress that he had uncovered the body of his own brother, ADO Leslie Pearce. He collapsed from shock and was taken to hospital by ambulance. Search and Rescue operations continued until the last body, that of a civilian, had been recovered at 14.30 hours on Sunday 1st December 1957.

The firemen killed were: 

ADO LA Pearce - C Division, Retained Fireman AE Farrow - Loose Fire Station and Retained Fireman JA Hawkes -Loose Fire Station.

The firemen injured were:

ADO HR Evans-Brigade Headquarters, Retained Station Officer SE Pearce Maidstone Fire Station -Retained Fireman DS Latham - Loose Fire Station, Retained Fireman GR Burden -Loose Fire Station, Retained Fireman NF Austin - West Malling Fire Station, Retained Fireman C Wallis - Maidstone Fire Station.

Before the funeral service for the three Kent Firemen on December 5th, large crowds gathered in Maidstone to pay their last respects. The procession was led by Senior Officers and over a hundred firemen from all four Divisions of the County and the funeral service attended by nearly 800 people,  was conducted by Canon FLM Bennett at All Saints Church, Maidstone.

A Tribunal appointed by the South East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board held a public enquiry into the disaster on the 30th/31st January 1958, finding that a clothes iron, which had been left on overnight in the tailor's shop, had been the cause of the fire. 

Source: Fifty Vigilant Years and CFO's Annual Report 1957/58

COMIC RELIEF

Fireman alongside statue of Queen Victoria after fire in Stepney, 1931

METROPOLITAN WHARF - 1973

Photo: flashback.com

40 pumps, Metropolitan Wharf, Wapping, May 10, 1973

WELLESLEY - 1914

On March 11, 1914, fire destroyed the training ship Wellesley on the River Tyne at North Shields. The old wooden vessel was moored on the river as an industrial training school for wayward boys. The youngsters battled the flames, assisted by Tyne Commissioners fire boats. The smoke "was yellowy with this tar content in it," Edward Joseph Hatfield, one of the boys, recalled as an adult.

COLONIAL WHARF - 1935

On Sept. 25, 1935, fire swept Colonial Wharf in East London. The 60-pump blaze started in a warehouse for rubber, tea and spirits and burned for four days. A news dispatch said: "Blazing debris fell on four barges, destroying them, and streams of molten rubber ran down and blocked the drains, while a film of burning rubber spread over the Thames."

SAILORS' HOME - 1860

Image: Illustrated London News

On April 29, 1860, flames gutted the Liverpool Sailors' Home, claiming two lives.

Fireman Robert Hardaker plunged 40 feet to his death when a ladder snapped, while a seaman, Joseph Clark, died saving books and papers. Hardaker had scaled the ladder to break out windows, according to the April 30 edition of The Daily Post.

 "The water pressure around Canning Place was unexpectedly low so the water jets could not reach roof height and the iron frames of the windows, with their small panels, also prevented firemen from getting water to the seat of the flames," according to an online history.

Residents on the sixth floor broke through iron window frames and crawled along a ledge to reach fire brigade ladders. The cause of the blaze was thought to be careless smoking.

WEST INDIA DOCKS - 1940

Photo: londonsriver.com
Fire boats at West India Docks during the Blitz.

West India Docks docks on the Isle of Dogs, which served commercial traffic from 1803 to 1980, were savaged by German bombers during World War Two.

In the 19th Century, the docks mainly traded in rum, molasses and sugar, according to the website Port Cities.

By the 20th century, the docks also handled grain, meat, fruit, vegetables and timber. 

Today, the Canary Wharf project occupies the site.

***

On Dec. 7, 1940, the first day of the Blitz, the Isle of Dogs was a prime target.

"Jerry was well aware of this," Doris Lilian Bennett who was working at an Auxiliary Fire Service control center on the island, said in an oral history compiled by the BBC.

"Around the edges close to the river were timber yards, paint works, boiler making and engineering factories, and other factories producing jams, pickles and confectionery," Bennett said.

"Across the top of the Island were the three large West India Docks, down the middle were the Millwall Docks, the docksides lined with shipping from all over the world, their warehouses stuffed with the cargoes those ships had carried.

"At the bottom end of the Millwall Docks were MacDougalls flour mills, their tall silos an outstanding landmark, all close together, the whole of the Island highly inflammable."

Flames swept the landscape.

"The air-raid continued, unabated, as well as the noise of the bombers and their bombs was the noise of the Ack-ack guns, four of them, on the Mud-chute, pounding away, the noise of their shells going up competing with the noise of Jerry’s little offerings coming down."

That didn't stop the fire brigade.

"We in the Control Room carried on with what we had to do, taking and relaying messages," Bennett said.

"The telephones were put out of order as wires were cut.

"We then relied on the young messengers and our two dispatch riders on their motor-bikes to fetch and take."

VAUXHALL - 1918

Photos: London Fire Brigade

"I heard Sub-officer Cornford call out `Look out Sir' and saw the building collapsing. I called out `drop everything and run.'"

On Jan. 30, 1918, fire claimed the lives of seven London firefighters in the Vauxhall section of the Borough of Lambeth.

The following official report - from the Superintendent of "E" District - is posted on the web site of the Vauxhall Society, courtesy of the London Fire Brigade Museum.

Loss of Life at a Fire Collapse of Building

I submit that at 3-44 a.m of this date a call was received by stranger to a private house alight at Albert Embankment, S.E., to which Motor Escape, Motor Pump and 10 men from No.94. Station Vauxhall and Motor Pump and 6 men from No.87. station Kennington responded.

At 3-55 a.m., a "home call" message was received, viz:- It is a building of three floors about 40 x 40 ft. used as Pepper Mills alight, one hydrant in use. No.3. Westminster Motor Pump and 6 men were ordered and I attended with No.80. Motor Car and 2 men.

On my arrival I found the upper floors of abuilding of three floors about 45 x 30 ft. (used as cattle food manufacturers) well alight, and part of roof and upper floor had fallen in. The fire was practically extinquished by the use of two hydrants and 1 Motor Pump and the stop sent back accordingly.

At 5-34 a.m., owing to a considerable amount of turning over to be done, a message was dispatched to the effect that appliances would be detained for a time and a few minutes later another message asking for a Sub-officer and four men to be sent on with a view to the appliances and myself returning home.

At about 5-45 a.m. I was on the ground floor and in consequence of hearing a cracking noise, cleared everyone out of the building. Owing to the ground mist and smoke, the front of the building was hardly discernible, a hydrant was still being used up the Escape, I went to the front of the building with the men with a view of making up and removing the Escape, when suddenly I heard Sub-officer Cornford call out "Look out Sir" and saw the building collapsing. I called out "drop everything and run", but was knocked down by the falling debris and part of the Escape, being subsequently extricated by our men from amongst the debris. On making enquiry, I found that a message to the effect that the building had collapsed and that several of our men were buried and ambulances were requires had been sent back. I gave instructions for the debris to be searched for the bodies of our men, then saw the Divisional Officer South who, on hearing of the nature of my injuries ordered me home. I have since been examined by the District Medical Officer, and placed on the sick list, nature of illness "Injury to Legs".

I regret to have to report the undermentioned casualties:

-KILLED:-
No.100. Sub-officer W.E.Cornford - No.80 Clapham.
No.616. Fireman K.J.Fairbrother - No.87 Kennington.
No.718. " W.E.Nash - No.87 Kennington.
No.944. " J.W.C.Johnson - No.94 Vauxhall.
No.1087. " A.A.Page - No.94 Vauxhall.
No.1174.Temp.Fireman J.E.Fay - No.87 Kennington

SEVERELY INJURED:-
No.151. Sub-Officer W.W.Hall - No.94 Vauxhall.
since dead.

INJURED:-
Superintedent J.Barrows. - "E" District.
Station-Officer E.Partner - No.87. Kennington.

(Signed) ........J.BARROWS

BRIXTON - 1910

Photo: BrixtonBuzz

Flames gutted a Brixton cloth and dry goods store on Aug. 19, 1910. "The fire at Messrs. Morley and Lanceley, general drapers, of the Brixton Road spread with great rapidity, and did a very considerable amount of damage," London Illustrated News reported. "Fortunately, the assistants who were on the premises at the time (between fifty and sixty) escaped unhurt, most of them in their night attire," the News said.

SHEFFIELD BLITZ - 1940

UPDATED JUNE 15, 2015

Photo: The Star

Inferno at King's Head Hotel, Dec. 12, 1940

Photo: The Star

Taxi turned auxiliary fire engine, High Street, Dec. 12 1940

German raiders hit Sheffield on the nights of Dec. 12 and Dec. 15, 1940, killing 693 people

The attacks destroyed 3,000 homes, leaving a tenth of the population homeless.

Fire Officer Christopher Eyre, quoted on the fire brigade's website, said: "If a man who went through it all tells you he wasn't afraid that night you can take it he's lying." Eyre also said: "We were ringed in by flame, and yet I seemed to be in a vacuum."

In The Star newspaper, Blitz Fireman Doug Lightning recalled in a 2014 interview: "There wasn't enough men or enough hose to deal with all the fires and it was no good putting a drop of water on this one and a drop of water on that one so we had to choose out battles carefully."

According to Sheffield City Council, the industrial eastern section of the city was largely "defended" by fog the first night and the Luftwaffe struck elsewhere, wiping out much of Angel Street.

When the bombers returned two nights later, they hit Hadfield’s Hecla and East Hecla Works (the U.K.'s lone manufacturer of 18-inch armor piercing bullets), Brown Bayleys steelworks, Arthur Lee and other industrial estates near the River Don.

WON'T TRY THIS AGAIN

London firemen release boy from fence, circa 1950s or 1960s

ASYLUM FIRE - 1883

On Aug. 14, 1883, fire destroyed a "lunatic asylum'' at Southall Park, killing six people, according to Haydn's Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information. Among the dead was Dr. Robert Boyd, a physician and proprieter of the private institution, according to the 1886 Dictionary of National Biography, compiled by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee.

LULWORTH CASTLE - 1929

On Aug. 29, 1929, flames gutted Lulworth Castle in Dorset, England. The 16th Century castle sat in disrepair in the decades following the blaze. Restoration work began in the 1970s and was completed in 1988.

DAVE'S STORY

Dave Squires

 

Editor's Note: Weston-super-Mare is a town located on Bristol Channel in North Somerset, England. You editor found the following story on the local fire brigade's website. It's an inspiring tale about a local fire buff named Dave Squires.

Dave Squires first appeared outside the ‘Station’ in June 1983 (then aged 29 Years). He would walk up and down, looking at the Fire Station but would suddenly disappear and return another day. The Firemen then had no knowledge that Dave was un-employed and had Learning Difficulties. After several weeks Jack Bell went out and invited Dave in.

Dave appeared to be very nervous and shy but was shown around the Appliance Room before he made an excuse that he had to go home, and he was gone.

Dave, however, continued to visit the Station and the Firemen of White Watch warmed to this visitor.

Dave appeared to have little confidence and it took some persuasion on the part of White Watch to get him to join them for a cup of tea in the Mess Room on the 1^st Floor. Whilst in the Mess Room there was a two-pump and TL shout leaving just two of us on the Station with Dave. A problem was apparent – Dave could not face going down the stairs and he froze and began to panic. Dave had shown no outward problem when he climbed the stairs but he was clearly not going to descend without help. It took the two of us - fifteen minutes to coax Dave down the stairs, sat on his backside – one step at a time. Later we found out that Dave lived in a Ground Floor Flat with his parents and an Auntie. Dave continued his visits and was welcomed by all the Watches on the Station. Dave never had a problem with the stairs again!

As time went on, Dave was given an old Lancer Fire Tunic, Yellow Leggings, a Helmet and would be ‘allowed’ to ‘Man’ the Land Rover! Eventually, he was given (all donated left-offs) shirts, trousers and cap. Dave gradually became less shy, and his confidence building was not only apparent to the Firemen but also to his family. So much so, that on the first Christmas, Dave’s parents opened their home and invited all Station Personnel to join them in a ‘drink’. Dave’s family were so grateful to the Firemen at Weston for all their interest shown in Dave and for their encouragement in boosting Dave’s confidence.
 

Early Spring 1984, (some eight or nine months after Dave’s first visit to the Station) a Fireman by the nickname of ‘Scooter’ came on duty one day clutching a local newspaper. ‘Scooter’ announced that there was a job in the situations vacant column which would be ideal for young Dave. The situation vacant was for a ‘trolley attendant’ at Leo’s Supermarket. The, then, Manager, of Leo’s was known to the Firemen. He had kindly given his permission for our Christmas Carol Float to be in attendance outside the Supermarket. The Firemen, with their knowledge of Dave, were able to recommend that Dave be given a chance to fill the vacancy, as they knew Dave to be reliable. Dave is still at the Supermarket today!

For all the difficulties Dave has endured he has a wonderful memory (which is more than can be said for a large majority of us Firemen). Dave could remember where every piece of equipment belonged in the Appliance Lockers and would, quite often, find items that we had mislaid.

 

Dave’s memory was put to the test. Watching a Fireman taking a Drill in preparation for his Leading Fireman’s Exam, a fellow Fireman enquired "do you want to have a go Dave"? Dave responded quickly and recited the Drill instructions word for word.

Dave was working throughout the week but on Saturday and Sunday evenings (Stand-down time) Dave was encouraged to take Parade and make out the Duty Board – this he did efficiently and still does it today!

Dave’s presence on the Station was accepted by Senior Officers throughout the Brigade!
 

Dave’s ‘help’ was never taken for granted and the Firemen wanted to reward Dave for his outstanding achievements. So, off to HQ we went and Dave witnessed a Recruits’ Passing Out Parade. This, Dave, thought to be a great honour and he enjoyed himself immensely.

The years went on and Dave’s enthusiasm for the Fire Station never failed.
 

In 1987, Dave’s mother passed away but Dave appeared to treat his loss as a ‘a fact of Life’. Dave remained at home with his father and his Auntie. Around 1999 Dave’s Auntie died and in January 2001 Dave’s father died.

Dave, who was once introverted and protected by his loving and supportive family now lives an independent life and is self-sufficient. Indeed Dave copes with all his washing, ironing, cooking, cleaning as well as holding down the same job. He finds time for recreation amidst all of the aforesaid mentioned - he plays Skittles with the William Knowles Centre, he attends the Winter Gardens (when Wrestling is taking place) and travels on Public Transport. He even travels on Public Transport to places such as Bodmin in Cornwall where he stays at a specially chosen Centre for his annual Holiday.
 

This is an encouraging story and shows that we are not put on this earth to see through each other - BUT TO SEE EACH OTHER THROUGH. 

EXETER THEATRE - 1887

Painting by Fred Ford from collection of Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service

On Sept. 5, 1887, a fire at Exter's Theatre Royal killed 168 people.

There were 800 people packed inside. Most of the fatalities occurred in the upper gallery. The number of exits proved to be inadequate and the tragedy led to fire safety reforms.

The cause was deemed to be gas lighting that ignited gauze backstage on the opening night of a romantic comedy called Romany Rye.

A witness reported: "Soon after the outbreak the City Fire Brigade were on the spot, but the water they poured on the fire was absolutely without effect."

Only 68 bodies were recovered and victims were buried in a mass grave.

BEESTON - 1886

 Flames devoured the Anglo Scotian Mills in Beeston, England, on April 29, 1886. 

LIVERPOOL - 1941

Photo: Street of Liverpool
Workers retrieve fire engine from bomb crater on Roe Street in Liverpool in late 1941.

BIRMINGHAM - 1941

Photo: Wikipedia

Blitz damage on Birmingham High Street, looking toward Bull Ring, April 10, 1941. The Luftwaffe dropped 1,852 tons of bombs on the city between August 1940 and April 1943.

FALKLANDS HOSPITAL - 1984

On April 10, 1984, fire claimed eight lives - including a hero nurse - at King Edward Memorial Hospital, the only hospital in the Falkland Islands, the remote British overseas territory off Argentina.

Nurse Barbara Chick, 36, who emigrated from Britain a year earlier, "ignored orders to keep out of the burning hospital and stayed with her patients until she was overcome by smoke," the Associated Press reported. 
 

Teresa McGill, 26, and her newborn daughter, Karen, were also among the dead, according to rootsweb.com. The others were four women and a man.

The AP reported that one of the victims was married to a local firefighter.

 

The hospital, located in Port Stanley, was built in 1914 and in disrepair.

 

BBC correspondent Robert Fox, reporting from the scene, said:

 

"By dawn, all that was left was four stumps of chimneys, the thin wood boarding of the walls, and fittings flapping like charred tissue paper in the wind."

The hospital lacked fire doors and working fire hoses and pumps.

Royal Air Force firefighters drew water from the sea for the local fire brigade.
 

A temporary hospital was established at Port Stanley town hall.

The blaze also damaged a prefabricated section of the hospital used by the U.K. military, which defeated Argentine troops in the Falkland Islands War two years earlier.
 

From London, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sent a message of "deepest sympathy."

Speaking in the House of Lords on April 11, Baroness Young, minister of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs, acknowledged "fire hazards" existed.

 

A parliamentry investigation into the fire was damning.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Aug. 1, MP Michael Stern said:

"Lack of fire doors was perhaps the principal and most obvious cause of the rapid spread of the fire, which was the reason why so many lives were lost.

"There had been many reports in the 1970s of the inadequate fire precautions in this and other public buildings in Port Stanley.

"In 1982, the fire officer, the civilian doctor and the military authorities together demanded the urgent installation of fire doors in the hospital - a wooden building - as the only way of stopping a fire should one break out."

"By the date of the fire, those doors had not even been ordered.

"As a result, whatever the cause of the fire - perhaps inevitably, the report was unclear about the exact cause - it spread rapidly and uncontrollably, and the deaths that occurred were to a large extent inevitable.

"Had fire doors been in situ, the deaths might have been avoided."

A new hospital opened in 1987.

In England, Barbara Chick, a Bristol native, was honored with a ceremony and plaque at Shirehampton Health Centre on Sept. 5, 1984, according to the November 1984 edition of the Falkland Islands Newsletter.

It read:

In Memory of Nurse Barbara Chick, S.E.N
A resident of Shirehampton, who
gave her life on 10th April 1984
trying to rescue patients
trapped by a fire at the
King Edward VII Memorial Hospital
Port Stanley
Falkand Islands

At the  ceremony, Dick Mellor, chairman of the Southmead Health Authority, said: "Her whole life was caring for others. In that disasterous fire her reactions automatically were for the patients first."   

QUEEN'S OWN - 2014

Photo: G. Del Giudice

Buckingham Palace fire service - August 2014

KING GEORGE VI

King George VI visits Lambeth Fire Station during World War II. Major Frank Jackson, chief of London Fire Brigade during 1940-41 blitz, stands in helmet and uniform in right of photo.

OLD PALACE SCHOOL - 1941

Photo: Memorial website

Surveying the ruins

It was the largest loss of fire service personnel in U.K. history.

On April 20, 1941, a German bomb landed on London Auxiliary Fire Service Sub Station 24U, which was housed at the Old Palace LCC School, St. Leonards Street, Poplar - killing 32 firemen and two firewomen.

Wartime regulations prevented publication of the news and full details of the tragedy remained under wraps for decades. It was learned that a parachute mine crashed through the roof and detonated shortly before 2 a.m.

Some victims died instantly. Others succumbed beneath the rubble. 

Twenty-one of the dead were from AFS Beckenham, Kent. They had been sent to London to provide relief, a common practice among wartime brigades.

The roll of honor:

AFS Firewoman (Telephonist) Hilda Dupree – AFS London
Died 20th April 1941 aged 21. Of 33 Warwick Road, Walthamstow, Essex.

Firewoman Winifred Alexandra Peters – London Fire Brigade
Died 20th April 1941 aged 39. Of 122 Canton Street

AFS Fireman Percy Charles Aitchison – AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 27. Of 20 Copse Avenue, West Wickham, Kent.

AFS Fireman Ronald Mark Bailey – AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 25. of 81 Links Road, Tooting.

AFS Fireman Alan Charles Barber – AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 26. Of 6 Fairford Close, Shirley, Croydon, Surrey.

AFS Fireman Earnest Reginald Beadle – AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 32. Of 211 Birkbeck Road, Beckenham.

AFS Fireman Kenneth John Bowles – AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 30. Of 27 Beckenham Road, West Wickham, Kent.

AFS Fireman John Coleman Burrell – AFS London
Died 20th April 1941 aged 35. Of 39 North Street, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.

AFS Fireman Patrick Joseph Campbell – AFS London
Died 20th April 1941 aged 24. Of 39 Bannister House, Homerton

AFS Fireman Harry John Carden – AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 29. Of 7 Mounthurst Road, Hayes, Bromley, Kent.

AFS Fireman Robert John Deans – AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 28. Of 144 The Grove, West Wickham, Kent.

AFS Fireman Frank James Endean – AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 36. Of 34 Aviemore Way, Beckenham, Kent.

AFS Fireman Cecil Farley – AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 43. Of 5 Linden Leas, West Wickham, Kent.

AFS Fireman George John Joseph Hall – AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 43. Of 44 Warwick Road, Anerley, Kent.

AFS Messenger Bertie James Frederick Harris – AFS London
Died 20th April 1941 aged 17. Of 31 Brabazon Street,

AFS Fireman Leslie Thomas Healey– AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 32. Of 15 Greenview Avenue, Shirley, Surrey.

AFS Despatch Rider Ernest Herbert Henly _ AFS London
Died 20th April 1941 aged 19. Of 2 Grange Cottage, Silver Street, Kinton Langley, Chippenham, Wiltshire.

AFS Fireman Sydney Bartholomew Jones – AFS London
Died 20th April 1941 aged 31. Of 54 Harrogate Road, Hackney.

AFS Fireman Albert Victor Kite – AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 36. Of 166 Village Way, Beckenham, Kent.

AFS Fireman John Francis Mead– AFS
Died 20th April 1941 aged 29. Of 39 Christie Road, Hackney.

AFS Fireman Vernon Joseph Middleditch – AFS
Died 20th April 1941 aged 31. Of 220 Hunders Lane, Darlington, Co. Durham.

AFS Fireman Alfred Edward Minter – AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 46. Of 48 Aylesford Avenue, Beckenham, Kent.

AFS Fireman Norman Richard Charles Mountjoy – AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 30. Of 11 Ash Grove, West Wickham, Kent

AFS Fireman Frederick George Parcell – AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 32. Of 28 Love Lane, South Norwood, Surrey.

AFS Fireman Martin Charles Parfett – AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 31. Of 296 Pickhurst Rise, West Wickham, Kent.

AFS Fireman William Charles Plant – AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 26. Of 22 Sultan Street, Beckenham, Kent.

AFS Fireman Cyril Bertram Porter – AFS London
Died 20th April 1941 aged 31. Of 31 Clinton Road, Forest Gate, Essex.

AFS Fireman William Thomas Rashbrook – AFS London
Died 20th April 1941 aged 31. Of 133 Chatsworth Road, Clapton.

AFS Leading Fireman Leonard Roots – AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 31. Of 10 Avenue Court, Avenue Road, Anerley, Kent.

AFS Fireman Albert Alfred Saville – AFS London
Died 20th April 1941 aged 35. Of 54 Harrowgate Road, Hackney.

Station Officer Richard William Sinstadt – London Fire Brigade
Died 20th April 1941 aged 46. Of 74 Beccles Drive, Barking, Essex.

AFS Fireman Edgar William Vick – AFS London
Died 20th April 1941 aged 38. Of 234 Eden Way, Beckenham, Kent.

AFS Leading Fireman Walter John Woodland – AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 41. Of 68 Links Way, Eden Park, Beckenham, Kent.

AFS Leading Fireman Herbert Charles Wotton – AFS Beckenham
Died 20th April 1941 aged 30. Of 78 Upper Elmers End Road, Beckenham, Kent.

AUXILIARY FIRE SERVICE

The London Auxiliary Fire Service fighting a fire near Whitehall road caused by an incendiary bomb. Photograph by William Vandivert. London, 1940.

 

AFS trailer pump pulled by taxi 

 

Holborn Circus, London

Professional firemen grumbled. The public sneered. In the end, the U.K.'s auxiliary fire crews performed heroically when German bombs rained from the sky in 1940 and 1941. 

Writing on the 70th anniversary of the Blitz in the Sept. 7, 2010 edition of The Guardian newspaper, Francis Beckett - author of the book "Firefighters and The Blitz" - said the fire service was "about the only thing the government had got right."

In March 1938, the government created the Auxiliary Fire Service to augment the U.K.'s regular fire brigades.

In London alone, the AFS recruited 28,000 auxiliary full- and part-time firefighters to supplement the professional fire crews , and they performed with great courage and determination as German bombs fell.

 

However, "the AFS might easily have failed," Beckett wrote.

 

"Professional firefighters resented it, while AFS people grumbled that they were paid less and their conditions of service were inferior."

 

Members of the public were critical of AFS members for skirting military duty.

 

In the end, according to Beckett:

 

 "The situation was saved by an alliance between London Fire Brigade chief Major Frank Jackson and the leftwing leader of the Fire Brigades Union, John Horner, who collaborated in persuading regular firefighters to accept the AFS as equal."

SOUTH LONDON - 1980

Photo: Wikipedia
Firefighters on roof after suspicious blaze at old South London Camping Warehouse in South London in 1980.

EMPRESS OF CANADA - 1953

Photo: liverpoolships.org

On Jan. 25, 1953, fire destroyed the ocean liner Empress of Canada at Gladstone Dock in Liverpool during an annual overhaul.

Firemen said they were fighting a losing battle and withdrew as the doomed ship's steel plates bulged and "rivets flew like bullets."

According to an Australian Associated Press dispatch from Liverpool:

"During the last half-hour before she heeled over the vessel listed rapidly to over 30 degrees.

"Parts of the superstructure and funnels hit the three-story concrete dock shed and there were resounding crashes from  the burnt out interior of the liner.

"The liner slid quickly on to her side and smoke billowed high into the air as the red hot hull hit the water."

READING LANE - 1960

Photo: Private Collection 

"Make pumps 20." Reading Lane, Hackney, about 1960.

FINAL SHOUTS - 2014

Photo: Islington Gazette

"Alpha 27" - Clerkenwell Fire Station

Ten London fire stations - including Clerkenwell, Europe's oldest - answered their final shouts on Jan. 9, 2014, as the government pressed on with efforts to realize millions of pounds in savings.

The move prompted emotional scenes as well as warnings that the closures - along with the removal of 14 fire engines from the streets of the capital - will lead to greater loss of life.

The Evening Standard reported: "Firefighters on Green Watch were in tears as they walked out of the Clerkenwell station, which opened in 1872, for the last time."

The building is located on Rosebery Avenue, Islington.

Belsize, Bow, Downham, Kingsland, Knightsbridge, Silvertown, Southwark, Westminster and Woolwich also closed, leaving London with 155 engines and 102 fire stations.

At Clerkenwell, the bells went down for the last time at 6:05 a.m.

The Green Watch attended a shout in Oval Road, Regent's Park along with Belsize fire station, which also faded into history.

APOLLO THEATRE - 2013

On Dec. 19, 2013, a section of London's famed Apollo Theatre's ornate plasterwork ceiling collapsed during a performance. Scores were injured.

The London Fire Brigade sent eight engines and the London Ambulance Service sent 25 ambulances.

Nick Harding of the Kingsland Fire Station said:

“We believe around 720 people were in the theatre at the time. A section of the theatre’s ceiling collapsed onto the audience who were watching the show. The ceiling took parts of the balconies down with it.

“Firefighters worked really hard in very difficult conditions and I’d like to pay tribute to them. They rescued people from the theatre, made the area safe and then helped ambulance crews with the injured.
         
“Specialist urban search and rescue crews were also called to the scene to make sure no one was trapped. Fortunately all those who were trapped were rescued and treated for injuries or taken to hospital.'
         
"London Ambulance Service treated 76 patients, 58 of whom were taken to hospital to be treated for their injuries. Fifty one of these were walking wounded and seven had more serious injuries."

ST. KATHARINE'S DOCK - 1940

Photo: East London Advertiser

Fire boats in action at St. Katharine's Dock, near Tower Bridge, on Sept. 7, 1940, at the start of the Blitz.

WOMEN'S BRIGADE - 1916

Photo: Topical Press Agency 

Women's Fire Brigade at hose and ladder drill during First World War in March 1916.

DUCK FIRE - 2013

Photo: BBC website

On Sept. 29, 2013, fire erupted on the London Duck Tours craft Cleopatra on the Thames in London. Thirty people were rescued.

WOOLWORTH'S MANCHESTER - 1979

Photo: Skyscraper City

Photo: Manchester Libraries

Photo: Woolworths Museum

On May 8, 1979, flames swept Woolworth's in central Manchester, England, killing 10 people and injuring 47 others - including firefighters.

The Fire Brigades Union called the store a "death trap."

The blaze started in an electrical cable and spread to furniture made of flammable polyurethane foam. 

"When crews arrived they found thick smoke billowing from the six-storey building and people screaming for help from the windows," according to the Fire Brigades Union. "Firefighters fought the blaze for two and a half hours while helping people escape by the shop's doors, windows and roof."

"The store had no sprinkler system, so the fire had plenty of time to spread before firefighters arrived," the union said. "There were thick bars on the upper-floor windows that fire crews attempted to pry off with axes and crowbars, but so strong were the bars that they had to wait for specialist cutting machinery. Meanwhile, a vital means of rescue was frustrated."

There were about 500 people inside when the alarm sounded. Among the victims was Woolworth employee Cyril Baldwin, 68, who served as an auxiliary fireman during World War Two and died trying to save others.

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON - 1926

On March 6, 1926, fire struck Stratford's Shakespeare Memorial Theatre. A passing cyclist raised the alarm.

ESSEX HOTEL - 1969

 

In the early hours of Dec. 26, 1969, fire swept the Rose & Crown Hotel in Saffron Waldron, killing 11 people. The blaze led to reforms in U.K. fire safety regulations. The hotel was built in the 16th Century and "modernized" in the 19th Century.

BUTLERS WHARF - 1931

Photo: Private Collection

From London Fireman Magazine
December 1966

“Moderate or fresh East or North East winds; bright intervals; snow showers; very cold” - This was London’s gloomy forecast for Saturday 7 March, 1931. 

In Chelsea, athletes due to represent Oxford and Cambridge universities that afternoon at Stamford Bridge, read the forecast, looked to the sky, and prophesied slower times and shorter jumps. 

In Southwark, at the headquarters of the London Fire Brigade, firemen read the same forecast, looked at the same sky, and wondered why they chose a career that made them get up on such a morning. 

In a warehouse at Butler’s Wharf near London a fire was in its infancy. 

Shortly after 10o’clock the Brigade was called for; the bells went down and firemen, their breath condensing beneath brass helmets, scrambled aboard their machines and sped to the scene. 

A pall of black smoke hung over Shad Thames and as they drew nearer the acrid fumes of burning rubber stung their nostrils. 

The fireboats Alpha and Beta ploughed their way towards the wharf and crowds gathered to watch the spectacle. 

On arrival the firemen immediately got to work and attacked the blaze from the street and adjoining premises, they even used the cargo ship “Teal” as a standing platform. In charge of these operations was the Chief Officer, Mr. Arthur Reginald Dyer, and also on hand were the men of the London Salvage Corps under the command of Captain Miles. 

The Brigade managed to confine the blaze to the single building but it was a long time before the last flame was quenched. 

All day it burned and when darkness fell searchlights were brought into action.

Compared with other conflagrations this fire was not very large, but it was the unbelievably cold conditions that made the fireman’s job so difficult. 

Water froze as it ran down the walls; sheets of ice spreading across the road made even the most limited of movements hazardous and everywhere hung monstrous icicles like the serpents of Medusa after her decapitation by Perseus. 

We will leave the last words on the subject to another, more qualified to speak; “The temperature was so low that all branches had to be wrapped in sacking, or it would have been impossible to hold them."