Childhood Memories pt.3

My father was directed into the Auxilliary Fire Service (AFS) from the police force and it was his place to train and lead the local firemen. I became conscious of fire precautions such as soda/acid extinguishers, CTC (Carbon tetra chloride) extinguishers and stirrup pumps and ordinary garden water hosepipes and saw the building of local Emergency Water Supply (EWS) tanks. My mischievous brother and some other children couldn’t resist playing whilst my brother rode his tricycle through the 3ins of rainwater that had accumulated in the dished concrete base before the tank sides were fitted. He leaned over his tricycle to look into the sump (about 30ins deep and about 3 feet square) and promptly fell in headfirst. We rescued him drenched but otherwise unharmed! When the tank sides were fitted on the bases, the tanks soon filled with water. The tanks must have been about 25 to 30 feet diameter and about 42 inches high. The next stage was the laying of 6ins pipes to distribute the water along the local road networks. For water to cross roads near corners, a short length of hose could be used between 2 branch pipes. Isolating valves were also used in the network in case a pipe was damaged by enemy action. Very few people had cars on the road during the war so there were very few people who needed to keep their driveways clear.

I was taken with my mother to see a public display by the fire service in the grounds of Cardiff Castle. In the display/competition a temporary tank had to be constructed about 150 yards away from another pre-constructed tank of water. The 6-inch diameter pipes then had to be constructed between the two tanks. The pipes were laid as the lorry drove along the route at a good walking pace. Another fireman dropped a joint clamp to enclose the pipe flanges and two men secured the joints with a wheel brace type socket spanner. The pump started and marks were deducted for each leak. The first to fill their tank was the winner. The speed of tank and pipe assembly was extremely fast.

The majority of fire fighting appliances during the war were Bedford, Commer or Austin vans equipped with a few accessories such as a branch pipe, an electronically operated bell, a few ladders and usually a “hook ladder” to enable a fireman to climb a building of almost any height. This could be achieved by smashing a window above him with the hook, hooking the ladder over the windowsill and climbing to the next floor. These appliances towed Coventry climax trailer pumps with supply and delivery hoses. I believe that an appeal must have been made for suitable unused vehicles to be handed in for conversion into fire tenders. My grandfathers “Berliet” car was stripped down to it’s chassis and rebuilt as a fire engine. I think that all towns had one conventional red fire engine sometimes equipped with the old trumpet horn and hand operated clanger bell and a tank holding a quantity of water — probably about 200 gallons and it’s own pump. The fire engines were always kept in instant readiness. Children often played in a derelict old house in the Gnoll Park, climbing and exploring the ruins, but when the fire engine bell rang out, lots of children could be seen scurrying from the building rather like rats leaving an infested area because the fire crews used the building for fire-fighting and rescue practise at irregular occasions.

My memories of these statements are strong because I regularily called to the fire station to visit my father when he was on a standby shift of when I left my “cubs” meeting from a building nearby.

The Blitz raid on Swansea was in 1941. Naturally, because we were all in bed no blackouts were fitted in the bedrooms and my parents allowed me to see the night view over Swansea. Aircraft, which I couldn’t see because they were so far away (about 6 miles), were dropping flares on the ends of parachutes to light up the target. The brilliant white light flares must have been dropped at about the rate of one every 2 to 3 seconds. They seemed to hover for a moment or two, and then started to descend slowly. The landscape oblitereted Swansea Town buildings from my view, but the flashes from explosions and the orange, yellow and red hues could be seen.

I think that the AFS had by now become the National Fire Service (NFS). Voluntary firemen now became full time firemen.

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