London Fireservice

The attached is a photograph of me in the London Fire service in 1944; I'm the one standing at the back. Buzz Bombs were rocking London at this time creating even more havoc following the Blitz.
The lady bending down was a dispatch rider; which was very scary, as she had to travel through the City transferring messages from one station to another.
The man in the picture was a fireman, one of several who were responsible for looking after the allotment; we mere women weren't allowed to touch the vegetables.
There weren't many buildings around us, as most had been destroyed by the bombs. Whitbread’s brewery was nearby and the men had to take turns to climb up the tower to watch for the buzz bombs coming over at night.
There were about a dozen women working for the fire service, each on different watches, I was on red watch. We were only allowed to man the telephones, as the men were given the job of going out to fight the fires. Our station covered St Paul’s Cathedral which warranted its own pump and was permanently manned.

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