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."

BOLTON NIGHT CLUB - 1961

Fire broke out at the Top Storey Club in Bolton, Lancashire, on May 1, 1961, killing 19 people.

The occupied the top floors of an old mill warehouse on Crown Street. Five of the victims jumped to their deaths.

Once the alarm was sounded, "Bolton Fire Brigade arrived within three minutes, but were unable to enter due to the intense fire. It was not possible to access the back with ladders, due to the river, and the turntable ladder was not long enough to bridge the river to reach the upper floors," according to Wikipedia.

The cause of the blaze was never established though chemicals in a paint closet contributed to the intensity of the blaze.  

HEATHROW HORSES - 1968

On July 3, 1968, an Airspeed Ambassador propeller aircraft carrying eight racehorses slammed into two parked jets at London's Heathrow Airport and cartwheeled into Terminal 1, which was then under construction.

Six of eight people aboard the aircraft were killed. The racehorses also died.

Another 31 people on the ground were injured.

The accident was blamed on a mechanical problem. The aircraft was operated by BKS Air Transport. It had been recently converted to carry horses.

WORLD WAR I ZEPPELINS

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 1^st 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 2^nd 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 1^st & 2^nd 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.

WEST INDIA DOCKS - 1901

In London, "a fire at the West India Docks today (July 11, 1901) destroyed a number of huge sheds and their contents. The amount of damage is estimated at from L100,000 to L250,000. Sugar and timber warehouses were involved in the conflagration. The Custom House was damaged, but the vessels in the docks were removed safely,'' The New York Times reported on July 12, 1901.

ISLINGTON - 1958

Photo: UK Fire Engines

Essex Road, Isington, Sept. 13, 1958

HOSTEL FIRE - 2002

On Sept. 2, 2002, London firefighters rescued seven people from a fire at a four-story hostel on Montagu Place, Marylebone. Eight engines and two turntable ladders attended the fire, with crews using six jets and two ladder monitors to extinguish the flames.

At 7:19 p.m., the fire brigade's control room at Lambeth received the first of 23 telephone calls about the fire, and ``a few minutes later firefighters from Manchester Square and Paddington fire stations arrived at the scene to find people calling for help from a number of the upper floor windows and the roof,'' according to a fire brigade press release.

``They quickly raised their ladders and rescued one man, two women and a child, all suffering from smoke inhalation from a second floor window and one man from the roof who was uninjured,'' the press release said. ``Two other men escaped from the premises before the brigade arrived, one from the basement and another who jumped from a first floor window. Two other people were assisted from the building by breathing apparatus crews.''

Divisional Officer Lee Phillpotts, incident commander, said: ``All the firefighters who attended this incident worked very hard to fight what was a very severe fire. The first crews to arrive in particular did an excellent job as they were confronted by a number of people in great distress at windows and the roof of the building, and an already well developed fire below them.''

BRIXTON - 1981

Photo: Metropolitan Police

In April 1981, the streets of Brixton erupted in flames.

The disturbance started after police attempted to assist a stabbing victim. Rumors spread that officers were arresting the stabbing victim rather than helping him.

According to the Metropolitan Police:

"299 police were injured, and at least 65 civilians. 61 private vehicles and 56 police vehicles were damaged or destroyed. 28 premises were burned and another 117 damaged and looted. 82 arrests were made."

Photo: Collection of Kevin McDermott, retired London firefighter

BAYSWATER - 1869

On Oct. 1, 1869, an explosion killed seven people in a house in Bayswater. The owner of the house, at 69, Moscow Road - a Mr. Titheradge - was a confectioner who also sold fireworks, according to the 1870 edition of the Annual Register, published by Longmans.

The book said:

``At five minutes to three o'clock in the morning the constable who took this road as part of a very long beat happened to be passing near the house, when he heard a noise resembling fireworks, and was startled immediately afterwards by an explosion which blew the front of the shop out, shutters and all. He at once sprang his rattle, and used his best exertions to rouse the people in the place.

``But egress by the front was impossible almost immediately, as the house must have been in flames instantaneously in the front, and the explosion, to all appearances, went through the two windows over the shop. Of course all who slept in that apartment must have been killed at once. A second policeman came at the alarm of the rattle, and he ran for the engine, which came in fifteen minutes after the alarm.''

HARROW AND WEALDSTONE - 1952

At 8:19 a.m. on Oct. 8, 1952, disaster struck at the Harrow and Wealdstone rail station in northwest London.

An express train crashed into the rear of a local making a scheduled stop. Seconds later, a third train traveling in the opposite direction plowed into the wreckage.  In all, 122 people died.

Rescuers used acetylene torches to reach people entwined in the wreckage.

The Ministry of Transport concluded the express train passed a caution and two danger signals heading into the station.

"Some of the victims were on the platform as carriages full of commuters were hurled onto them," the BBC reported that day. "Others were killed on a footbridge over the track that was punctured by a pile of coaches."

BRAIDWOOD



 

Tooley Street Fire - 1861

By Vinny Del Giudice
Editor, London Fire Journal

On July 9, 1861, the steamship Arago arrived in New York from England with a newspaper correspondent’s report on a conflagration at Tooley Street, London.

The blaze, which broke out June 22 and burned for days, claimed the life of James Braidwood, superintendent of the London Fire Engine Establishment.

Braidwood, admired far and wide for his skill and bravery, pioneered the modern fire service.

The former fire master of Edinburgh shaped London’s disorganized and undisciplined insurance company-sponsored brigades into an effective force.

In his 28 years at the helm in London, Braidwood accomplished more in the field of firefighting and fire prevention than anyone before him - even kings and parliament.
 
Braidwood was a Scot.

He was born in Edinburgh in 1800, attended the Royal High School, joined his father's building firm as an apprentice, became a surveyor and gained "exceptional knowledge of the behavior of building materials and housing conditions in the Old Town of Edinburgh," according to Wikipedia.

Following the Great Fire of Edinburgh in 1824, Braidwood pressed for the formation of a trained fire service to replace the usual collection of mobs and bucket brigades.

In the early 19th C., people were leaving Edinburgh’s Old Town for the more comfortable surroundings of the New Town. [Gazetteer of Scotland]

The old buildings became slums and fire-traps.

The city had very limited fire services and, following a series of deadly fires, which culminated in the Great Fire of Edinburgh of 1824, Braidwood persuaded the authorities and insurance company brigades to work together.

He formed the world's first municipal fire brigade, organizing men and machines.

In organizing Edinburgh’s fire force:

Braidwood recruited to the service expert tradesmen - slaters, carpenters, masons and plumbers - who could apply their various fields of expertise to firefighting. [Wikipedia]

He also recruited experienced mariners for an occupation that required heavy manual work in hauling engines and trundling wheeled escape ladders up and down Edinburgh's steep streets, as well as nimble footwork when negotiating rooftops and moving through partially destroyed buildings.

 

His 1830 text "On the Construction of Fire Engines and Apparatus" preached such things as getting a hose line close to the seat of the fire to extinguish it rather than pouring on water from a distance.

The book was considered ground-breaking and led to Braidwood's appointment as superintendent of the London Fire Engine Establishment in 1833.

His new brigade was funded by London’s insurance companies and staffed by 80 full-time fire-fighters at 13 stations who wore a functional grey uniform -- designed by Braidwood -- with knee-high boots and black leather helmets.

His crews were nicknamed ``Jimmy Braiders."

Men who had served in the Royal Navy received preference in hiring for their discipline, strength and training.

Burning of Pariament - 1834

The new brigade faced a major challenge when the Houses of Parliament burned on Oct. 16, 1834.

The blaze started in a basement furnace and spread rapidly.

Seeing the fire was well-advanced, Braidwood directed his force to concentrate on saving Westminster Hall and checking the spread of the flame to other structures.

In that, they succeeded.

Even so, the fire was considered a national tragedy. 

In the aftermath of blaze, Braidwood pursued an aggressive effort to reduce the numbers through safer building construction.

In a letter to the Times of London newspaper, [fire.org.uk] Braidwood wrote:

The causes of the fire proceeding so rapidly in the work of destruction I believe to be as follows:

1 The total want of party walls.

2 The passages which intersected the building in every direction and acted as funnels to convey the fire.

3 The repeated alterations in the buildings which had been made with more regard to expedient then to security.

4 The immense quantity of timber used in the exterior.

5 The great depth and extent of the buildings.

6 A smart breeze of wind.

7 An indifferent supply of water which, though amply sufficient for any ordinary occasion, was inadequate for such an immense conflagration.

8 My own and the firemen's total ignorance of the localities of the place. In fires in private dwellings, warehouses, or manufactories, some idea may generally be formed on the division of the inside of the premises from observing the appearances of the outside, but in the present case that rule was useless.

 

Escape Ladders

The primary role of the London Fire Engine Establishment was the protection and salvage of property as it was funded by the insurance industry.

Life safety was of secondary concern.

In 1836, the Society for the Protection of Life from Fire was organized separate of Braidwood's brigade to place wheeled ladders throughout London.

The wooden "escapes" could reach as high as 60 feet.

The cumbersome but effective apparatus were operated by "conductors" who were employed by the society and underwent months of training.
 
(The use of wooden escape ladders continued into the 1970s and 1980s on motorized vehicles).

The firemen of London Fire Engine Establishment and the Society for the Protection of Life from Fire worked closely throughout the Braidwood era.

In 1854, for example, they conducted a number of rescues in a blaze at Raggett's hotel in central London while Braidwood directed the fire-fighting.

Tooley Street - Braidwood's Final Fire

Braidwood's Funeral Procession - 1861

Braidwood's final fire at Tooley Street broke out at Cotton's Wharf, a six-story warehouse storing hemp, jute, cotton and other commodities.

According to a sketch of Braidwood:

Although discovered in broad daylight, and before the flames had made any considerable headway, the want of a ready supply of water, and the fact that the iron doors in the division walls between the several warehouses had been left open, taken in connexion with the extremely combustible nature of the materials, soon rendered hopeless all chance of saving the buildings and property.

(Braidwood) appears to have at once foreseen that the fire would be one of no ordinary magnitude, and that the utmost that could be done would be to prevent its extending widely over adjoining property.

The floating fire-engines had been got to bear upon the flames, and the men in charge of the branch pipes were, after two hours' work, already suffering greatly from the intense heat, when their chief went to them to give them a word of encouragement.

Several minor explosions, as of casks of tallow or of oil, had been heard, but as it was understood that the saltpetre stored at the wharf was in buildings not yet alight, no alarm was then felt as to the walls falling in

At the moment, however, while Mr. Braidwood was discharging this his last act of kindness to his men, a loud report was heard, and the lofty wall behind him toppled and fell, burying him in the ruins.

It was a tremendous loss, with Queen Victoria sending her condolences.

Braidwood's funeral procession stretched for a mile and a half through London with thousands in attendance.

Church bells tolled and public houses remained open through the night.

On the 150th anniversary of the Tooley Street Fire, the London Fire Brigade published the following account on its website:

By 6 p.m., 14 fire engines, including a steam fire engine and the floating engine, were all at the fire. The fire spread quickly throughout the workhouses as the iron fire doors, that separated many of the storage rooms, had been left open.

It is believed that if they had been closed, as recommended by James Braidwood the Superintendent of the LFEE, the fire may have burnt out, avoiding disaster.

It has been suggested that the fire was so fierce because the firefighters couldn’t get a supply of water for nearly an hour.

This was made even more difficult as the Thames was at low tide.

Whilst the firefighters were tackling the blaze Braidwood noticed how tired they were getting and ordered that every firefighter receive a ‘nip’ of brandy.

While he was assisting one of his firefighters the front section of a warehouse collapsed on top of him, killing him instantly.