A 20th century fire service

The London Fire Brigade is born! The Brigade's title was adopted in 1904 after with an Act of Parliament, though it had been popularly known as this for many years.

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At the beginning of the century, successive Chief Officers introduced many innovations, one of the most notable being the motor car in 1902. At first, it was deemed unsatisfactory and horses were kept in use but gradually, as the motor appliances improved their performance, they were widely introduced and the last horse drawn machine was withdrawn in 1921.

During the First World War, the Brigade lost men to the armed services, but when the enemy air raids began many returned to the Brigade and those still serving were exempted from war service. Compared with the air raids of the Second World War, the earlier ones were light, but even so some 670 people in London perished.

The Brigade progressed in leaps and bounds between the wars as engines were perfected and the first fully enclosed fire appliances were made. New and faster fireboats appeared and a new Brigade Headquarters were build on the Albert Embankment by Lambeth Bridge to replace the one at Southwark, built for Massey Shaw 80 years previously. Working hours were shortened and the brass helmet, in use for 70 years, was abandoned in favour of a stronger cork helmet.

The Second World War

As the shadow of another war darkened over Europe, the Government passed an Act setting up an Auxiliary Fir Service which, when the war came, saw AFS members and regular firefighters stationed together all over London.

Enemy raids on London did not start until the late summer of 1940 and during the winter months their intensity grew nightly. Thousands of men and machines were called in to deal with the fires and cope with the devastation. The reputation of the service was greatly enhanced during the Blitz and Sir Winston Churchill, in one of his famous speeches, dubbed the firefighters 'the heroes with grimy faces'.

In the early stages of the war, the Government, realising the importance of a unified firefighting force throughout the country, made emergency provisions for a National Fire Service and this came into being on 18 August 1941.

In Greater London, the separate brigades were formed into a single Regional Force, divided into five and later four Fire Forces. In 1943, Major Frank Jackson, the man who had directed the Blitz campaign, retired and was succeeded by Mr Frederick Delve, later knighted, a former Chief Officer of Croydon. There was far less bombing in the city after the NFS came into being but, when a short series of heavy raids happened in 1944 followed by flying bomb and rocket attacks, the service again found itself at full stretch.

The Massey Shaw

London's most famous fireboat, the Massey Shaw, was built in 1935 and performed active duty for 35 years. Her best known mission came in 1940, not as a firefighting vessel but as one of the fleet of 'little ships' which evacuated trapped soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk.

During Operation Dynamo the Massey Shaw made three trips across the channel. She ferried 500 men from the beaches to larger ships waiting off-shore, rescued more than 40 from a ship sunk by a mine and brought 106 men back to England.

Although retired from the fire service in 1970, the Massey is still seaworthy thanks to the efforts of the Massey Shaw and Marine Vessels Preservation Society. She has revisted Dunkirk to take part in anniversary celebrations of Operation Dynamo.

For more information about the Massey Shaw visit http://www.thames.org.uk/masseyshaw/

The post-war years

At the end of the war, plans were made for a peace time service and it was decided that the brigades could best be run by Counties and County Borough Councils. A big 'split' came on 1 April 1948. A major benefit gained from the war was the introduction of new national standards in such matters as ranks, badges of rank, hose couplings, terminology, drills and training.

Mr Delve took charge of the Brigade in 1948 and at once set about a major reshaping task. Worn out appliances were replaced, accommodation for the men was improved, training facilities were enhanced and new techniques and equipment were introduced.

A system of street fire alarms had been in use since 1880 which enabled the public to call out the nearest fire station. By the start of World War II, 95% of calls made in this way were false alarms. The system was abandoned during the war and when Mr Delve took command afterwards he decided to phase them out completely as the Post Office set up its 999 service, more people had telephones at home and public call boxes were promised. The Brigade opened its first central control room at Lambeth HQ and the use of two-way radio was greatly increased.

Towards the end of this period the changing face of London was being reflected in the Brigade. There was an increase in 'special services', those incidents not involving fire, as heavier traffic brought more road accidents and high rise developments meant lift accidents to cope with. Legislation introduced in the late 50s and early 60s had also raised the profile of fire prevention work. The Factories Acts and the Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act gave the Brigade powers to enter premises to inspect fire precautions and means of escape and made it responsible for issuing Fire Certificates.

page 5 of 5: 60s to today's brigade

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