Interesting Fire Department stuff.

[fireftr18]

Originally Posted by Eichhörnchen

Hildenborough (Kent) Fire Brigade, 1923. My mother's family all came from Hildenborough (near Tonbridge, my home town) and she was 2 years old when this was taken.

Cool! Thanks for sharing.

[August]

Lots of medals on those guys. Military vets or something FD related I wonder?

[Eichhörnchen]

They would've been won in the Great War I guess... they would have been allowed to wear them on their fire service tunics I've no doubt.

[August]

Originally Posted by Eichhörnchen

They would've been won in the Great War I guess... they would have been allowed to wear them on their fire service tunics I've no doubt.

That is pretty neat then. FWIW a couple of them have far more medals than the average Joe (for that time period). It looks like you have some real heroes on the HFD back in the day.

[Eichhörnchen]

Anyway... this thread's slipped down to page 4 so... to keep up the interest:

[fireftr18]

Eichhörnchen


Neat little video. Thanks for sharing.

[Eichhörnchen]

Trumpton (and Camberwick Green) were favourites when we were kids. There's a real craft in these 'stop-go' animation shows but recent ones (like Fireman Sam and Bob the Builder) have been replaced by CGI.

[Eichhörnchen]

These old photos turned up years ago in an album found in a junk shop. I've never been able to id. the unit precisely, or discover where they were taken. Note the Warrant Officer's badge on the motor cyclist's sleeve. It does appear from the other photos, however, that they were all taking turns on the bike.

[Aktungbby]

well at least they practiced once in awhile http://www.britishpathe.com/video/army-fire-service-practice

The history and structure of dedicated firefighting personnel within the Military is quite complex and an attempt is made here to add some clarity. A number of Military personnel with a dedicated firefighting role have lost their lives in the course of their duties, especially members of the Army Fire Service, during World War 2. Due to these deaths being recorded under their various Military units, records can prove to be difficult to find and confirm.
The Army
Prior to the outbreak of World War 2, the Army had no separate Fire Service as such, although ‘Garrison Fire Brigades’ were established at Aldershot, Blackdown, Bordon, Bulford, Catterick and Colchester. A further Brigade was later authorised for Bovington. These Fire Brigades were commanded by Non-Commissioned Officers, (NCOs), seconded from their regiments and supported by 16 to 30 civilians. Ordnance and other depots made their own arrangements for manning any fire engines they had.
In July 1941, a Fire Fighting Wing within the Pioneer Corps was formed. This Wing absorbed all the men engaged on full-time fire service duties. Members of the Army Fire Service, operating under the umbrella of the Pioneers Corps, were subsequently established throughout many theatres of war, including the operation of many fireboats.
On 1 July 1946, the Pioneer Corps Fire Fighting Wing was disbanded and the whole of the Army Fire Service absorbed into the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC). In 1961, it was civilianized and became part of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps.
The Army Fire Service continued in name until the creation of the Defence Fire Service in 1990 and later the Defence Fire & Rescue Service in 2004

At least the 104 Fire fighting Co of the Army Fire Service made it to Caen during D-day ops. <A Bedford QL 3 ton truck, one of the tenders of 104 Fire Fighting Company (Army Fire Service), stationed in Caen. The functions of the Army Fire Service were to protect Army equipment, billets, barracks and ammunition dumps in case of fire. Civilian property in liberated towns and villages also came under the care of the Army Fire Service

[Eichhörnchen]

Thanks, Aktung. My dad drove for the RASC in Korea, but his Bedford QL wasn't a fire truck: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...50&postcount=1

[Aktungbby]

^ Well he's made it to this site as well http://www.naafi.co.uk/history My 1st LT dad, a five year WWII vet, was slated to be redrafted to fly in B-29's as a flight engineer, by then death traps for MIGs over Korea. His employer got him deferred as he was in development of practically all instant coffee and teas, including GI C-ration instant coffee, for the military....I wonder what NAAFI served?!! He made instant coffee for 17 years in Minneapolis MN until transferring to industrial dehydration of onions and garlic, used in most prepared food mixes etc. incl C-rations and moving to California as general manger. I worked two college 110-degree summers at that plant in Gilroy CA. unloading fleets of onion semi-tucks dropping their harvests into the bins...http://www.conagrabrands.com/news-room/news-conagra-foods-announces-agreement-to-sell-gilroy-foods-flavors-dehydrated-and-vegetable-product-operations-to-olam-international-1435547 Bon Apetit! and try to avoid the 'military-industrial' complex!

[Eichhörnchen]

So the old guy is still getting around with his NAAFI Mobile Canteen!

[Aktungbby]

^ I knew you'd b pleased! (is there a possible copywrite infringement ...U struggling artists need all the help U can get....)

[Eichhörnchen]

I expect they lifted it from that book. I suppose copyright died with the old man (he never left a will) but you'd only be asking a small fee for something like that.

[Aktungbby]

Well we're glued to our tv sets power outages permitting and I've tried to post this twice now. (4) big fires are at Napa with bone dry conditions and evacuations ordered. Firefighters are not attacking the fire yet, concentrating instead on more vital evacuations ...especially in a remote rugged are known as Atlas Peaks. House are clearly burning. Churches in town are setting up as evac centers and residents are advised to have a car prepped with food, clothes, etc ready-to-go. Embers are blowing all over from 30-50 mph winds and the smoke is evident at my abode with tree branches blown onto the roof with crashing sounds as I post my particular street is 10-15 miles from the worst blaze; at 01:45 the night will be long and fire is the devil's only friend. My CA fire chief neighbor,in charge of communication and coordination is already out somewhere and we've heard the (his) command center has already moved a few times as the situation shifts rapidly. More on this later....(edit: power went out 1 minute later, just after this post, till Tuesday PM fires all night Saturday to the East West and just North of my house.)