Fire Engines Photos

A neat, simple little "home-built"; and an Aerial Ladder at that.

Usually see mostly Pumpers, Water Tankers and Rescue Trucks in the "home-built" category.

Compliments to the Volunteer Fire-fighters that built her, on the redoubtable RH drive Austin chassis; and hope that she is safely in preservation - perhaps, with her Fire Department.

Regards, from Canada,
Pat_R-B

Added by Pat Rivers-Bowerman on 28 December 2008.

Hi,
This is an interesting photo for several reasons. I was aware that several Belgian small towns inherited the British Austin K2 near the end of World War II, and I saw a few during the 1950s. There is a very important chapter in British fire history that few people know about, and that concerns the fire column which was sent to the Continent shortly after the invasion on June 6, l944. From what I understand, most of the vehicles were these robust Austins in the form of the ATV with trailer pump. There could have been Heavy Units in the Column, but I do not know if this was so. What is needed is someone in the UK who is interested in the research that is necessary, and at this late date it will be a difficult task. A standard Fire Column during NFS days would have been anywhere from ten to fifty pumps plus support vehicles including hose laying lorries, mobile kitchen, several dispatch riders and all under the command of a Column Officer, a rank between Senior Station Officer and Divisional Officer(a three pipper. Possibly scholarly papers have been printed, and I for one would like very much to read such. When the British
Fire Column was disbanded many of the Austin ATVs were left behind and became the principal fire units for Belgian towns; I would guess this TL was such a unit, stripped of the boxy body and built up to what is shown in the photo.
If anyone has photos of any ATV in a Belgian town, it would be great to publish it on this site===I have a couple of small black and whites that i'll try to put on cd and add.
Bob Graham

Added by Bob Graham on 29 December 2008.

Bob, that is a brilliant discription on what in general happened at the end of
the war period and post-war in France, Belgium and Holland.
The fire service itself(volunteer NFS personnel)maintained its patriotic stance
and volunteered to provide fire-fighting support for the armed forces on the
continent after the planned invasion.A number of overseas fire columns were
trained and the volunteer firemen underwent rigorous military style training.
In the event only one column, No4 was actually sent and that was not until some
6 months after the D Day landings.The remaining fire columns were split up, a
very poor reward for the keeness of the volunteer firemen of the NFS.
The overseas column which went to France operated with both British and American
armies and distinguished itself on many occasions especially under US control
because the British were well provided for by the Army Fire Service attachment
and surviving civilian brigades in France, Belgium and later Holland.
The overseas column saw much active service especially around Antwerp following
heavy V1 and V2 attacks through the resulting fires and rescue requirements and
this may well have led to more fire columns being sent over, but by then only the
one overseas fire column existed(Fire Column No4), the only Fire Column to take
the Fire Service's colours to battle.


Added by Pete Matten on 29 December 2008.

Hello, we have several photos of no. 4 column in places like Liege and Antwerp in the Essex Fire Museum, they are very interesting indeed.
I will try to post some soon, no. 4 column moved from Lexden Colchester and followed the US Army through Europe.
Geoff.

Added by Geoff Young on 30 December 2008.

Hi,
I'd like to ask Geoff Young if the EF museum has any printed material concerning this Column---any scholarly research papers, booklets, etc.
I for one thank him for posting this valuable information. Where is the museum?
(Not that I can visit it any time soon as I'm in San Francisco, but I have a cousin in Essex).

Added by Bob Graham on 30 December 2008.

Hi Bob, I do not know if we have anything in writing but I will ask when I am in the museum next, the little info we have has just come in with a large collection of pictures and a us army M3 combat knife with a home made handle with NFS scratched on it from the wife of a chap that served with the column.
Cheers Geoff.

Added by Geoff Young on 30 December 2008.

Thanks Jeff for updating us on the Fire Convoy which accompanied a part of the Allied force as they blazed (no pun intended) a path across Europe. It sounds as if the lady was donating materials of her husband who was no longer here; maybe not. Possibly she could be contacted by someone from your museum to see if she has knowledge of how the Column proceeded, something possible if her husband shared information. Many museums in the US are involved with "living history, " --- persons with knowledge of some event who put their stories on tape recorders, so it becomes available to others. It's a little late now to gather materials concerning the events of the 1940s, but there are undoubtedly still a few persons around. Thanks again.

Added by Bob Graham on 31 December 2008.

Bob, i think you would be most interested in the recently published book UNDER FIRE by John Leete, AFS, NFS Overseas Column etc.

Added by Bob on 31 December 2008.

Thanks Bob for the information concerning this new book; do you know who published it? I had not heard of it. I'll see if it's been published here in the U, S., and track down a copy. Where is the Museum located?
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Added by Bob Graham on 31 December 2008.

Bob, published by SUTTON PULISHING, ISBN 978-0-7509-4132-7.
Cirencester Rd, Chalford, Stroud, GLOS, GL6 8PE, England.

Added by Bob on 01 January 2009.

Hi My Father was a member of Column No 4 B Company No 157587 G. George. I have his medals which I wear every Remembrance Sunday. The men of the column earned the War Medal & the France and Germany Star. I have a printed book with a complete list of every fireman that went from Tilbury on 24th January 1945 and returned from Ostend on July 15 1945. It contains their service number, and their home address, as well as a thank you from Divisional officer Kelly, from Ewart G Plank Brigadier commanding general U.S.A as well as others, and a list of the places in Belgium France Holland Luxembourg and Germany where the column protected all classes of the munitions of war. Please E Mail me, as I would like to see the photographs to see if my father was on any of them.

Added by Brian George on 25 January 2009.

Hello
I am the author of Under Fire, a recent publication about Britains Fire Service during WW2. I mention the Overseas Contingent and include previously unseen photographs. I am very interested in securing more stories for a possible second volume. Many thanks

Added by John Leete on 01 February 2009.

Hello
I Am a member of the Fire Services Preservation Group South East branch and we regularly attend military and 1940's re-enactment shows in the south of England - we try to dress in original NFS uniforms and some of the members even dress as the Overseas no 4 column. We use some of the old vehicles the ATV'v and have been commended on the drills we carry out one of our members has even made a watch room as close as he can to the real thing, I will be trying to obtain the book under Fire. Thank you.

Added by Barry J. L. Clark on 30 September 2009.

Hello,
Isn't it interesting that as time passes, more and more information about this unique NFS Overseas Contingent is revealed. Barry reminds us that to this day they remember and re-enact some aspects of the group. I would ask if Barry has any good photos to post showing one of these historical get togethers. I'm sure there are a good many who'd appreciate his sharing them. I'd be especially interested in who became the Dispatch Riders, what kind of bikes they rode. I would guess they had new,dependable machines unlike those we had to contend with. The Triumph I had was several years old and in pretty sad shape which was bad as no one (least of all me) had any training in upkeep. It finally broke in two while I was taking some papers from our "B" Divisional HQ to "A" Div. HQ; thanks to the all steel army parachutist's helmet I was wearing I walked away from it. Too, were DRs trained to double as fire crew members? Any info on this, Barry.
Thanks a lot,
Bob Graham
Richmond, California

Added by Bob Graham on 01 October 2009.

Bob et all,
Not even in Belgium but in Holland many ATV were given or on loan until the town could buy their own unit again, as the occupiers took many of the Dutch machines to their homeland and many never came back....
Here are some numbers of vehicles which were distributed by Section IV-Staff Militair Government till July 1945:
ARP - 3 tons lorry 60; tipper lorry 9; rescue tender 19.
Fire Service - 3 tons lorry 45; rescue tender 29; towing vehicle 88; portable pumps medium 76; portable pumps light 66; trailer pumps light 29
Pumps were either Dennis or Bereford.

Added by Fire995 on 01 October 2009.

Bob Graham wants to know who were the dispatch riders for Column No 4 . One was Maurice Wilkinson from Peterborough He was 21 years old at the time and was the dispatch rider for the HQ Division. I have his name and address and phone number, but I dont know if he is still alive. I have a printed book which he gave me, with a complete list of every fireman that went from Tilbury on 24th January 1945 and returned from Ostend on July 15 1945. It contains their service number, and their home address, a copy of this is now with the Essex Fire Museum.

Added by Brian George on 01 October 2009.

a map showing the route taken by No. 4 Column hangs in the Museum of Fire, Edinburgh. They apparently went via Etapes. Le Mans, Paris, on into Northern France, Belgium etc before crossing the Rhine

Added by Colin McFarlane Foster on 22 October 2011.

I'm researching the story of the overseas column and have gathered quite a lot of material but am always interested in more if anyone has anything they are able and willing to share.

Added by Andy Buttery on 09 June 2017.

Looking at the wheelbase of this adaptation, I think it is more likely a K3 or K4, which would have originally been a heavy unit, MDU or a standard lorry. The "lollipops" are a neat addition!

The US forces did not have a fire service contingent like the British, but they did leave behind hundreds of GMC 2.5 ton 6X6 trucks after WWII. Many of these were converted into brush trucks with 3, 000 liter tanks and 500 LPM pumps, and were in use - especially in France - well into the 1970s...

Added by Rob Johnson on 21 August 2017.

Please add your comments about this picture using the form below.

Comments

Your Name

Your email address - this will be shown on the page and will allow the system to notify you of further comments added to this picture.