AFS men digging for victory in 1940 at Saltley. Viv.
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Auxiliary Fire Service
- Thread starter sheiljoy
- Start date
Being inspected by Chief S H Johnson in July 1939 at New Street station before leaving for a Hyde Park, London national service parade. Viv.
AFS stationed at Edgbaston Cricket Ground. Viv.
Radiorails
master brummie
The gentleman on the left reminded me of Will Hay. His film "Where's that fire" was great.
Hi Guys
Here is a couple of names from the Birmingham Auxiliary Fire Service. Roll of Honour
S,Villers B2577 429 Victoria road Aston Died 9.4 1941
D,OWHITE B2270 73 Barn Lane kings heath Died 9,4 1941
Lugg of station 4/4 was killed by a H,E Bomb whilst attending a fire at Holburn hill
Hibbard of station 4/4 was killed in a motor collision whilst in charge of a water carrying unit
Notes; Equipped with a silver identification disc they were able to roam at will in the black out [ 1940]
I am wondering whether or not that a previuos member put a silver disc on a braclet for there wrist would that have been there silver disc identi to roam ?
Here is a couple of names from the Birmingham Auxiliary Fire Service. Roll of Honour
S,Villers B2577 429 Victoria road Aston Died 9.4 1941
D,OWHITE B2270 73 Barn Lane kings heath Died 9,4 1941
Lugg of station 4/4 was killed by a H,E Bomb whilst attending a fire at Holburn hill
Hibbard of station 4/4 was killed in a motor collision whilst in charge of a water carrying unit
Notes; Equipped with a silver identification disc they were able to roam at will in the black out [ 1940]
I am wondering whether or not that a previuos member put a silver disc on a braclet for there wrist would that have been there silver disc identi to roam ?
Write up for 10 days of Aid Raids during November 1940. The house where I lived in Heather Road Small Heath was damaged during this time by an Aerial Mine which fell some 12 houses down killing the occupants and laying waste to their property. My Mother, me and my Grandparents were trapped in an Anderson Shelter in the garden when debris blocked the exit and we needed to be dug out.
Attachments
Filling in time between calls. Viv.
perry commoner
master brummie
I am interested on the AFS based at KYNOCKs WORKS, WITTON, Birmingham. My uncle, Norman Felton, was a member of this service due to being employed as a carpenter at Kynocks. I remember them attending competions A team event in which each 'pump' had to arrive and set up, get started and knock over a disc target set up on a wooden pole.. It was a timed event, the winning team taking the prize. I remember attending a competition at a sports ground in Holford Drive, Witton about c1949. The Birmingham Evening Dispatch reporter was there and a photo of Uncles team was taken to be used in the paper that evening. I managed to get myself on the edge of the photo. Wonderful memories!
Signing up in 1942 under the Civil Defence Duties Order. Would they all become part of the Auxilliary Fire Service? Viv.
My partner has asked me If I could share this picture . The picture is of some of the brave AFS during WWII. Her Grandad served at that time at a station very close to Farm Park in Sparkbrook ,Birmingham, she can't quite remember if it was Grantham Road or Farm Road in Sparkbrook. Her Grandad is the tall chap standing 6th from the left on the back row, his name was Wilfrid Evans.
My partner was told that the station was sadly bombed, men on watch were killed as they were in the station at the time. Her Grandad luckily, had not long finished his watch and was at home when a knock came to the door asking him to go back and help as the station has been hit. He had to help to dig his friends out, sadly most of them lost their lives.
The photo could have been taken at any station that side of birmingham but we
have know way of knowing which one. On the big board at the back of the room there seems to be some information which says Station 5/1 (I think) and a date in January but cannot make out the year clearly.
My partner was told that the station was sadly bombed, men on watch were killed as they were in the station at the time. Her Grandad luckily, had not long finished his watch and was at home when a knock came to the door asking him to go back and help as the station has been hit. He had to help to dig his friends out, sadly most of them lost their lives.
The photo could have been taken at any station that side of birmingham but we
have know way of knowing which one. On the big board at the back of the room there seems to be some information which says Station 5/1 (I think) and a date in January but cannot make out the year clearly.
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Welcome Staffy. Hopefully someone will be able to help you. Viv.
What a splendid picture! I am sure that someone will be able to confirm the location on the basis of the 5/1 identification on the wall.
We even almost know the date! It is six months after the establishment of the unit: (possibly) 23 January 19-something. The scan isn't quite good enough to read that clearly but I think, looking at what we have, that there is more definition in the original print than we have here. If Staffy has the original, perhaps he could take a magnifying glass to have a really careful further look at it and then we may be able to learn more. (Or post a high definition scan of that bit of the image). The date is certainly before August 1941 when the AFS was absorbed into the NFS. And, if the date is after May 1940, a number of these men will have volunteered for the Home Guard as well, in a Battalion consisting entirely of City AFS men. Just something to do in their spare time!!
The loss of life in the AFS was dreadful. I have a list of no less than 12 men who lost their lives in a single month, between late October and late November 1940.
Chris
We even almost know the date! It is six months after the establishment of the unit: (possibly) 23 January 19-something. The scan isn't quite good enough to read that clearly but I think, looking at what we have, that there is more definition in the original print than we have here. If Staffy has the original, perhaps he could take a magnifying glass to have a really careful further look at it and then we may be able to learn more. (Or post a high definition scan of that bit of the image). The date is certainly before August 1941 when the AFS was absorbed into the NFS. And, if the date is after May 1940, a number of these men will have volunteered for the Home Guard as well, in a Battalion consisting entirely of City AFS men. Just something to do in their spare time!!
The loss of life in the AFS was dreadful. I have a list of no less than 12 men who lost their lives in a single month, between late October and late November 1940.
Chris
Hi Chris, I had go at getting a better resolution of the picture, the information on the board does indeed say STATION 5/1 across the top. On the left hand side of the picture it says '6 months old' and on the right hand side it says 'born 23rd Jan 1940' but take a look at where it says 1940 as there is a slight crease on the photo and the '40' is a bit fuzzy. I will attach the better photo.
Thanks Staffy.
Thanks Staffy.
Don’t know if this account of a visit to an AFS station (Division 5) is of interest. This may/may not be Station 5/1 as it was bombed. But in any case it gives a little insight into an AFS station. It’s from the Birmingham Post September 1941. Viv.
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Also meant to say Staffy’s photo looks like a celebration meal - serviettes, flowers etc. Presumably this was to celebrate the station’s 6 month anniversary (?). Viv.
A fire float bound for Birmingham in 1940. Viv.
Back to 5/1, for a moment. If the anniversary notice on the wall is there to mark the gathering, it puts the date at late July 1940. In other words, not many days before it all kicked off in August, on the 9th. These blokes were about to be well and truly tested and I imagine they can have had little idea of exactly what it was going to be like.
Bit of a mystery on the question of location........ I have seen 5/1 listed as being based in Essex Street, off Bristol Street and therefore not Sparkbrook. Can there be any doubt, Staffy, about your partner's recollection of location? Or is my information wrong?
(Source: Matt Felkin)
Chris
Bit of a mystery on the question of location........ I have seen 5/1 listed as being based in Essex Street, off Bristol Street and therefore not Sparkbrook. Can there be any doubt, Staffy, about your partner's recollection of location? Or is my information wrong?
(Source: Matt Felkin)
Chris
The mystery remains. From information I have been given, the Grantham Street Station was 5/4 and a report survives of the loss of life there, four men in all. It would be interesting to know, Staffy, how your partner's grandfather came to be photographed in 5/1 and yet the memories of 5/4 are so clear. Did he transfer, perhaps?
Chris
Chris
By the time of that photograph it's pretty safe to assume that a number of these men would also have volunteered for Home Guard service, over and above their firefighting duties. They would have been responsible for defending their premises and equipment against whatever threat loomed. I think that there was a Home Guard battalion dedicated to the Fire Service (comprising anything between 1000 and 2000 men and one of the thirty-one battalions in the city) but I'm not sure which one. By the end of the war and because of the creation of the AFS and later the NFS, I imagine that the link between the Fire Service and the Birmingham Corporation would have been looser than in earlier times. Perhaps for that reason the Corporation doesn't seem to have issued a commemorative book in 1945, detailing the wartime history of the service, as it did for City Transport and for the Utilities (Gas, Electricity, Water, etc.) Which is a great pity.
Chris
Chris
Hi ChrisM, I have asked my partner, her Grandad told her that he definitely served at the Farm Road / Grantham Road Station at the time it was bombed. Unfortunately, she does not know if he served at another station before that time or which one he was transferred to after the bombing. We wondered if the photo was of a celebration of some sort perhaps an end of training celebration? Could they have been transferred to local stations after training as he lived in Port Hope Road, Sparkbrook during the war?
A lot of applicants for WW2 fire duties in Kingstanding ( Dyas Road).
Viv.
Viv.
Small Heath AFS men at the start of WW2. Viv.
