AFS firemen at work during the Blitz, 1940.
The first targeted air raid on London took place on 7 September 1940 and marked the beginning of the Blitz when London was bombed for 57 nights in a row. Firemen were constantly at work, not only putting out fires but dealing with explosions. Bombs in warehouses were especially dangerous due to the products they stored, for example, highly flammable alcohol and paint.
In order to take some of the workload off the fire service small fires were dealt with by street fire parties. These were civilians who were given and taught to use stirrup pumps.
After the Blitz, the firemen and women who served in the NFS were known as 'heroes with grimy faces'.
For 90 per cent of auxiliary firemen, the start of the Blitz was their first experience firefighting.
