Description
Object description
British officer served as Chief Officer of Croydon Fire Brigade in Croydon, GB, 1933-1941; served as Deputy Inspector-in-Chief of National Fire Service in GB, 1941-1942; served as Chief Regional Fire Officer, No 5 Region, National Fire Service, London, GB, 1942-1947
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of period as Chief Officer of Croydon Fire Brigade in Croydon, GB, 1933-1941: preparations for threat of fire caused by bombing from 1936; reasons why First World War experience was of no value; lessons learnt about incendiaries during Spanish Civil War; estimating effectiveness of incendiaries; problems of commandeered taxis coping with weight of men and materials to be transported to fires; plans to recruit auxiliary firemen; organisation of signals links between appliances and headquarters; cleansing of reservoirs; question of efficient couplings for hoses and their interchangeability; problems with rank markings in different parts of GB.
REEL 2 Continues: problems of keeping auxiliary firemen during Phoney War, 9/1939-5/1940; German Air Force attacks on Croydon Airport, 8/1940; his escorting Sir John Anderson to scene of Croydon raid, 8/1940; German Air Force attacks on London, 1940-1941; high fire risk in City of London; defence of St Paul's Cathedral; German Air Force's aim to hit civilian areas during attacks on London; question of fireman's rank recognition; maintenance of communications by General Post Office (GPO) in London. Aspects of period as Deputy Inspector-in-Chief of National Fire Service in GB, 1941-1942: sight of refugees leaving Liverpool; complete exhaustion of firemen in Liverpool; his work organising fire defences in Liverpool.
REEL 3 Continues: question of how suspension of German Air Force raids prevented outbreak of rioting in Liverpool, 5/1941; need for central direction and control of fire service; story of choice of site for Fire Service College; problems of defence of Coventry especially water supply; how objection of Secretary of State for Scotland led to shelving of plans for military style titles for National Fire Service. Recollections of period as Chief Regional Fire Officer, No 5 Region, National Fire Service in London, GB, 1942-1947: plans for dealing with German V weapons offensive; adoption of term 'task force'; improvement in handling of fires between 1941 and 1944.
REEL 4 Continues: opposition after war from local authorities to a National Fire Service; how he became Chief Fire Officer, London Fire Brigade, 1947 and changes he instigated; reasons why German V weapons attacks were not as difficult as raids for fire services; prior recollection of severity of German Air Force raid on City of London, 29/12/1940; use of fire boat Massey Shaw during Dunkirk Evacuation, 5/1940-6/1940.