Photo: Imperial War Museums
Firemen at Cox's Court off Little Britain in the City of London after air raid on July 7, 1917.
By Friends of London Fire Museum
German Zeppelins and aircraft attacked London during World War I. There
were in all 25 raids on London, 7 by Zeppelins and 18 by aircraft, 22 took
place at night, 3 by day. On a yearly
basis there were 4 in 1915, 3 in 1916, 13 in 1917 and 5 in 1918. A total of 524 people were killed and 1264
injured.
Having been warned by the military authorities of the approach and
direction of airships, on some occasions the LFB were able to anticipate the
likely target area and concentrate motor engines accordingly, an example being
13/14 October 1915 when motor engines were concentrated at Woolwich, with its
Royal Arsenal, before the arrival of the attacking Zeppelin, the resultant
fires caused by the 24 incendiary bombs dropped being quickly contained.
On 7 July 1917 a particularly serious daylight
air-raid took place on the City, carried out by Gotha IV bombers, killing 44,
injuring 121 and causing three serious fires, one at the Central Telegraph
Office in St Martins-le-Grand in the City.
This prompted Chief Officer Sladen to recommend three measures to meet
the air-raid situation (a) return former LFB firemen from the armed forces -
one officer, 174 men from the navy and two officers, 68 men from the army (b)
provide additional Royal Engineers sappers during air-raids and (c) create a
Metropolitan scheme of fire brigade assistance during air-raids or expected
air-raids.
These measures were quickly agreed by the government
including a scheme for fire brigade reinforcement during air-raids, established
by the Fire Brigade (Metropolitan Area) Order 1917, under Defence of the Realm
Regulation 55B.
This designated the Metropolitan
Police District plus Watford, Dartford and Egham Urban Districts - over 750
square miles - a Special Fire Brigade Area in September 1917, and comprised 90
local authority fire brigades including the LFB.
The Chief Officer of the LFB was appointed
the Mobilising Officer in charge of the scheme, the Senior Superintendent being
the Assistant MO and an additional District Officer post created as the Deputy
MO, the scheme coming into operation in October 1917.
Hydrant and coupling
adaptors were issued to meet the problem posed by the varying patterns of
connections used by participating brigades, which also undertook training for
the scheme.
Predetermined appliance moves were worked out by which
motor engines from outer London brigades stood-by at LFB stations from where
they were despatched to incidents as required.
Throughout the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Area (MFBA) 11 motor engines
from 10 brigades were on 1st Move call to send an engine to stand-by
at LFB stations, subject to the dispatch and arrival of an LFB motor escape to
stand-by at their home station.
A second group of 14 brigades were to keep a
motor engine in readiness to dispatch if required under the 2nd Move.
If dispatched, predetermined adjacent brigades covered their home station or
moved up to stand-by in turn.
To assist
identification each engine in the scheme was numbered from 100 onwards
commencing with the Kodak Fire Brigade, examples being Wimbledon - 101 and
Ilford - 135. The LFB reinforced or
stood-by in the opposite direction as necessary.
First Move reinforcement mobilising was subsequently
implemented 19 times with 2nd Move being required only once, on 6 December 1917,
an example being motor engines from Wembley and Twickenham attending a fire in
Shoreditch.
On other occasions a number of outer engines were moved by the
Mobilising Officer outside the 1st & 2nd Move
procedure. (Similar Fire Brigade Area Schemes were established during 1918/19
in the North Eastern, South Western, West Midland and North Western English
Regions.)
Of the 25 air raids in the London County Council LFB
area the worst single bombing incident was that at the Odhams Printing works in
Long Acre, Covent Garden on 28 January 1918 when a 660 lb bomb from a Staaken
Giant hit the building, 38 being killed or later dying of injuries received and
over 85 being injured, the basement then being used as a public air-raid
shelter holding c.500 people at the time.
The Brigade rescued survivors and later
recovered the dead. While in no way comparable to the aerial attacks of the
Second World War sufficient death, injury and damage were inflicted by these
air raids to cause serious concern.
Several LFB stations were damaged by enemy action
including Edgware Road, Belsize, Knightsbridge, Shoreditch, Whitechapel,
Pageants Wharf, Waterloo Road, Streatham and Northcote Road.
During the raid of 8 September 1915 two incidents took
place which led to the posthumous award of medals for gallantry to two members
of the brigade.
Fireman C.A.Henley, on duty at one of the last remaining Street
Stations in Bartholomew Close in the City, was rendered unconscious when a bomb
exploded nearby, destroying the station.
On recovering he rescued a woman from
an adjacent damaged building and conveyed her to nearby St. Bartholomew’s
Hospital, returning to get a jet to work from a hydrant until relieved by
arriving fire crews, but later died from injuries received at this incident.
He
was posthumously awarded the Kings Police Medal.
During the same raid, at a fire
caused by enemy action at Furnival Inn, Lambs Conduit Passage, Holborn, Fireman
J. S. Green, following participation in earlier rescues and attempting a
further rescue of persons reported on an upper floor, was badly burned and
later died of his injuries, for which he was posthumously awarded the Council’s
Silver Medal.
Two Station Officers were also awarded the Kings Police Medal for
meritorious service in leading and co-ordinating firefighting and rescue work
following air raids - StnO W.Gardiner of No. 24 Station Brunswick Road at an
incident near his station in Poplar on 24 September 1916, and StnO T.M.Crane at
the Odhams Printing Works incident at Long Acre, Covent Garden on 29 January
1918.
A fire and explosion at Brunner-Mond's munitions
factory at Crescent Wharf, North Woolwich Road, Silvertown on the evening of 19
January 1917 killed 73 people and injured over 400 others.
Among those killed were two firefighters -
Sub-Officer H. Vickers and Fireman F Sell - in attendance from West Ham Fire
Brigade's nearby Silvertown station, which was wrecked and where several
members of firefighters' families were killed and injured.
Shrapnel from this explosion also caused a
serious fire in a large gasometer at Blackwall and at the East Greenwich Gas
Works on the opposite side of the river as well as triggering numerous street
alarm calls to various parts of East and South East London by people who had
seen the glow of the fire in the night sky.
This put under pressure an LFB already dealing with the Blackwall, East
Greenwich and other resultant fires and in process of providing extensive
reinforcements to West Ham Fire Brigade at the original incident.
The LFB sent 29 pumps and two floats and fire
brigade reliefs were maintained for 10 days.
Six members of the West Ham FB were later given awards for bravery at
this fire.
A motor engine was
subsequently stationed at LFB’s North Woolwich station while Silvertown Fire Station
was reconstructed.
Consequent upon this
and other fires and explosions in munitions plants and military depots
elsewhere in Britain, in July 1918 a further order, the Fire Brigades
(Metropolitan Area) Order 1918, provided for fire brigade reinforcement
throughout the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Area to be extended to fires in such
establishments.
With the end of the war these government sponsored reinforcing
arrangements lapsed, being formally terminated in August 1921.
The largest death toll of LFB
members in a fire not resulting from enemy action occurred at a cattle feed
factory at Albert Embankment in the early hours of a fog-bound 30 January
1918. Seven members of the brigade - two
Sub-Officers, W. E. Cornford and W. W. Hall and five firemen, E. J.
Fairbrother, W. H. Jash, J. W. C. Johnson, A. A. Page and J. E. Fay - perished
under a wall collapse during the latter stages of the incident.
A Superintendent and a Station Officer were
also injured.
Ironically, this was later
to become the site of Brigade Headquarters.
In common with the rest of the population, the Brigade
was affected by the influenza epidemic which swept the country during 1918/19
and suffered staffing difficulties as a consequence.
In all, 224 fires and other incidents caused by enemy
action were attended by the London Fire Brigade and 138 persons rescued, for
which members of the brigade were awarded 3 King's Police Medals, 1 Silver
Medal and 43 Commendations (one KPM and 35 Commendation recipients
were later awarded BEMs); members of assisting bodies also received
commendations as follows: London Salvage
Corps 3, London Rifle Volunteers 2 and MWB turncocks 2.
Thirteen members of the brigade received
injuries, from which 3 died: Firemen J. S. Green, C. A. Henley (both decorated
posthumously) and A. H. Vidler, and 3 were invalided from the brigade. At the
end of the First World War Chief Officer Sladen and his deputy S. G. Gamble
retired, being replaced by A. R. Dyer and C. C. B. Morris respectively.
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