HORSHAMS WW2 FIRE SERVICE

My Father was a Fireman in the Horsham Fire Brigade during World War Two. I had been researching into our Family History and found that there is little knowledge, of the work Horsham Fire Brigade did at this time.

The Record Office at Chichester has very little in the way of documents.

Horsham Museum, told me that they have one wartime photograph, they suggested that I contact the Council, this I did. They were very helpful, but unable to come up with any information. It seems that when the fire brigade moved to Hurst Road, the council took over the building for offices. A skip was used to take away the “ rubbish”, and lots of local History was lost forever.

I wrote to the Fire Brigade, it transpired that the Brigade had very few war time artefacts, No war time records, but a lot of interest in the subject, they agreed it would be nice to know more.

I thought it was time something was done to record this important part of Horsham’s History.

It was difficult to know where to start. So I began with my father, Robert Blake, with the help of his diary’s, the Records Office, a few of my father's colleagues, and of course my very patient husband, I have put together, as much information as I have been able to find.

And I dedicate it to the men and women, of Horsham’s Auxiliary and National Fire Service 1938 – 1945.

Margaret Baldwin.

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HOW IT ALL STARTED

(FROM VIGILES ISSUE NO 1 1997)
Hitler had become Chancellor of Germany in 1933, and by the following year it had become clear that he was on the path for war in the years ahead. In 1935, Sir Vivian Henderson, then president of the Professional Fire Brigades Association, asked whether the Home Secretary would appoint a committee to advise what measures should be taken to co-ordinate fire brigades in the event of a future national emergency. His query, was closely followed by another from Mr Ben Gardener M.P. for Upton and a former chairman of West Ham Fire Brigade Committee. He asked;’’ In connection with the preparations foreshadowed for National Defence and the danger of incendiary attack from the air, is any scheme being worked out for bringing all fire brigades up to an approved standard and interlinking them for joint action?’’ in hind sight, to days reader might well ask why, after so much pertinent questions were asked in the house four years before war was declared in 1939, a National Fire Service was not created before 1941, and then only after heavy enemy air raids had shown that a necessary co-ordination between brigades was rather sadly lacking.
IN RESPONSE TO THE Questions, the Home Secretary said that he had decided to appoint such a committee, which was duly formed in August 1935, being named The Departmental Committee on Fire Brigade Services. The chairman was a director of banking, insurance, and industrial undertakings, Lord Riverdale. In consequence, the newly formed body became known as the Riverdale Committee and its final findings referred to as the Riverdale Report of 1936.There had previously been a Royal Commission of 1921, which had looked into the whole matter of the structure and efficiency of the British Fire Services, but as with so many other reports of that nature, very little noticeable alteration occurred. However, with war looming, the Riverdale Report was followed by a Fire Brigades Division being set up at the Home Office and intense activity commenced in making preparations for emergency arrangements for fire fighting which would be needed on a war footing.
With the international Situation beginning to rapidly deteriorate, 1937 saw the drafting of a Fire Brigades Bill intended to incorporate the findings of the Riverdale Report. This eventually received Royal assent in July 1938, and became the fire Brigades Act, 1938. One of the provisions of the act was quite remarkable, in that for every first time a mandatory obligation was imposed on local authorities to provide fire protection in their areas.It was against this background of increasing activity at fire brigade organisation and attempts to improve efficiency that the building of new fire stations was taking place in 1936/37. It seems to have been due to a mixture of a natural desire by the more far sighted authorities to update the effectiveness of their fire brigades, the need to prepare for an increased state of readiness for an impending war, and possibly the realisation that the Riverdale committees findings would in any case result in a need for local authorities to have a fresh look at what provisions they had so far made for dealing with outbreaks of fire.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------No. 5 PUBLIC INFORMATION LEAFLET
READ THIS CAREFULLY AND KEEP IT FOR REFERENCE
FIRE PRECAUTIONS IN WAR TIME
ISSUED FROM THE LORD PRIVY SEAL’S OFFICE AUGUST 1939WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN IN WAR.It is probable that in an air attack on this country an enemy would make use of fire bombs. The object would be not only to destroy property but also to create panic.A large number of these bombs might be dropped in a small space. A large proportion of them would fall in gardens, streets and open spaces where they would burn out without doing much damage. But in a built up area some would fall on the roofs of houses. One of these houses might be YOURS.
HOME FIREFIGHTERS.However strong the fire brigade might be, an outbreak of many fires all close together and beginning at the same time would be more than it could successfully deal with unless the householder himself and his family took the first steps in defending their home.In Civil Defence EVERYBODY has apart to play. This is specially true of fire fighting. In every house there should be one or more people ready to tackle a fire bomb. So read what follows; read it again and again, make the preparations which are advised and see that everyone in your house knows exactly what to do. Then you will be able to protect your own home and the homes of your neighbour’s. For once a fire gets out of control you cannot tell how fast it may spread. All large fires start as small ones.
THE FIRE BOMBthe ordinary fire bomb is not in the least like a high explosive bomb. It may well weigh as little as two pounds or so. It may not explode at all, but will blaze up and may scatter burning material in all directions.It will go through any ordinary house roof if dropped from a sufficient height, but a small bomb will probably come to rest on the first boarded floor below the roof. Fires will therefore break out mainly in roof spaces, attics and upper storeys.For a time after the bomb has burned for about a minute it should be possible to get near enough to get the bomb under control before it does further mischief.
HOW TO DEAL WITH A FIRE There will be two things to deal with - the bomb itself and the fire or fires it has started. Each of these may have to be tackled in different ways, but the main thing is to stop the fire from spreading.A fire started by a bomb is just like an ordinary fire, and water is the best means of putting it out. ACT QUICKLY. Every minute you loose makes your job more difficult.HOW TO DEAL WITH A BOMBIf you throw water on a burning bomb there is a danger of the bomb scattering burning fragments in all directions, and you may do more harm than good. If, however, the water can be applied in the form of a fine spray it will cause the bomb to burn away quickly and it will generally be possible to get it under control. For this purpose the stirrup hand pump, with a special nozzle producing jet or spray, according to requirements, is the best appliance. At first you should direct the water on and around the fire, rather than on the bomb. This will prevent the fire spreading and will also make it easier to approach the bomb. If you have no stirrup hand pump available, sand could be used to cover the bomb. This will not extinguish it, but you should be able to scoop up the remains of the bomb, drop them in a bucket containing about four inches of sand, and remove the bucket to a safe place. If you find it difficult to enter the roof space or room because of the heat or smoke, crawl on the floor and keep your face as low as possible. The air will be cooler and much clearer near the floor, and you will be able to breathe easily and see where you are going in places where you could do neither standing up. Remember that, even if you cannot tackle the bomb itself but can prevent the spread of fire, your object will have been achieved.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO NOW.1 Clear your roof spaces and attics of any ‘’old junk’’ that you have collected there. See that you have nothing there that will easily catch fire and nothing that would prevent you getting at the burning bomb.2 Make sure that you can get easily into your attic or roof space.3 Have ready at least four large buckets, a shovel or scoop, preferably with a long handle, and a fair quantity of sand or dry earth. Provide also what appliances you can; if possible a stirrup hand pump with the special nozzle giving either a jet of water for playing on a fire, or a spray for dealing with the bomb itself. Failing this, a garden syringe would be useful, or even old blankets soaked in water.4 MAKE SURE YOU KNOW THE EMERGENCY FIRE BRIGADE ARRANGEMENTS IN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD so that you can send for help if you want it. Your air raid warden or a member of the fire Brigade or Auxiliary Fire Service will give you all the information you want.
IF THERE SHOULD BE A THREAT OF WAR ACT AT ONCE AS FOLLOWS:1. Fill at least two large buckets with water and ‘see that they are kept filled’. During an air raid, you cannot rely on getting water from domestic taps, because all the supply may be needed by the Fire Brigade. Have a bath or tank also kept full of water to refill the buckets in case of need. Put the buckets and other appliances, if you have any, on or near the top floor.2. . Have two or more buckets half filled with sand - one to use in controlling the bomb and the other for putting the bomb into when you have scooped it up.3. Tell the members of you household what they must do and see that they understand their duties. While one person might be able to deal with the situation it is tackled promptly, two or even three would be better. If a hand pump has been provided and three people are available, one should tackle the fire, another should pump while the third should bring supplies of water.4. In a small house the sound of a bomb striking the roof would give adequate warning anywhere. In a large house it may be necessary to have a watcher on or near the top floor. He should if possible have a whistle to summon help. See that all doors, which need not be open, are kept shut. If a fire cannot be quickly got under control someone must call a fire patrol or report to the air raid warden or a policeman, according to the local fire brigade arrangements.IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO GIVE FIXED RULES TO MEET ALL CASES OF FIRE CAUSED BY BOMBS, BUT STUDY THE ADVICE GIVEN ABOVE, DECIDE WHAT YOU WOULD DO AND PRACTICE IT UNTIL EVERYONE IN YOUR HOUSE KNOWS THE PART HE OR SHE HAS TO PLAY. THEN YOU WILL BE PREPARED TO FACE THE SITUATION CALMLY AND WITH CONFIDENCE.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AUGUST 19th 1938An article in The West Sussex County Times. Stated that60 Auxiliary Fireman were Required.Horsham residents were accused of being slow to volunteer for public service in the towns Air Raid Precautions work., This is the mustering of an Auxiliary Fire Brigade which was to call for the services of some 60 men between the ages of 30 – 50 years of age A class for Horsham Ordinary Volunteer Fire Brigade was held on the 4th October 1938. At the fire station, when in addition to fire drill, the men l received instruction in anti gas and general A.R.P. methods
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A.FS N.F.S HORSHAM STATION C1ZThe Auxiliary Fire service was started in Horsham at the end of 1938.With War looming, volunteers were asked for. Ten recruits came forward and these were trained at the Fire Station, which was situated at the entrance to Horsham Park, close to Park House.Later, men were trained in Surrey, at Hobbs Barracks, not far from Lingfield, facilities were better there and the standard of training improved. Shortly before the outbreak of war a sub station was also opened at Jackson’s Garage, in Springfield Road Horsham. My father, Robert Blake worked there as a Coach Trimmer and was one of the first volunteers. There are very few documents to inform us of the work Horsham Fire Brigade did. Records were hand written into simple notebooks and very few remain. When the fire brigade moved to Hurst Road in around 1970, the council turned the building into offices. A skip was used to take away the “ rubbish”, and lots of local war time History was lost for ever .I was researching our family History when I discovered this and wrote to the Fire Brigade, it transpired that the Horsham Fire Station had very few war time artefacts, No war time records, but a lot of interest in the subject It was difficult to know where to start. So I began with my father, Robert Blake, with the help of his diary’s, the Records Office, and a few of my father's colleagues I have put together, as much information as I have been able to find.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When the war began, the men from Jackson’s Garage Sub Station were posted to the main station, full time. They were given a uniform; the jacket of that was single breasted and offered little protection from heat or sparks. (Double-breasted jackets were introduced later) To this was added a waterproof, a pair of leggings, Wellington boots, and a tin hat. Men complained often when fighting a fierce fire, that the water soaked through their uniforms very quickly and the fronts of them would be steaming with the heat of the fire, while their backs were shivering coldThe men were divided into three watches, red, white and blue each worked for 48 hours on and 24 hours off. They looked after the watch room themselves, but this meant that when they were called out to an incident, the watch room was left unattended. Not until after they became the National Fire Service in 1941, did women take over the jobs of watch room attendant, cooks and secretaries.To begin with Fire Engines were bright red; this made them stand out rather too well, so they were painted a dull grey, even the brass fittings were painted. First they had a Bedford, and old Dennis pump then a Pyrene Pulsometer, which the men were supposed to be able to slide off the trailer and carry to the incident, but in was difficult to manoeuvre and extremely heavy and awkward. I was told that it often got “stuck” and was left where it was until the incident had been dealt with and they could return to retrieve it. Fifty foot of rubber-lined hose was always carried; this hose worked the best, allowing the water through quickly and the men found it easier to handle and carry then the canvas hose of which they had 75 foot, but it was made of a very course material with a much narrower pipe, which restricted the water and was harder to control.Water was their main weapon against all fires, and was taken from anywhere, streams, rivers paddling pools, swimming pools and garden ponds, And even the bomb crater itself on many occasions, a small quantity of foam was carried though not often used. Also in regular use was an old ford lorry fitted with a canvas tank on the back, it was known as the Dam lorry and held about 1,000 gallons of water when full. This had to be driven with great care, as sudden breaking would cause the contents to slosh over the front of the vehicle. I was told by Charlie Jones of one occasion on the Carfax when the loaded dam lorry had to break sharply, A cyclist nearly came off a bicycle in front of them, the lorry stopped in good time, but the water didn’t!

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This is a list of the vehicles used

THE CAR’S AND TOWING VEHICLES.

1 CRYSLER PG 9836

2 VAUXHALL UF 9258

3 VAUXHALL UJ 1726

4 VAUXHALL NJ 1016

5 BUICK GN 3622

6 BEDFORD PO 8912

7 GILFORD KX 2242

8 AUSTIN GLC 888

9 AUSTIN GLF 131

10 BEDFORD E T EBP 156 (Horsham Urban District

Council appliance before the war, or the A.F.S. started.

PUMPS

1 BEDFORD S C APX 389

2 DENNIS S C PX 9338

3 DENNIS T?

These three belonged to the Horsham Urban District Council before either the war or the A.F.S started.

4 APEX T B 2889

5 W-SIMPSON T D 14657

6 PYRENE T D 3605

7 PYRENE T D 3648

8 W-SIMPSON T D 14652

9 PYRENE T D 3606

10 DENNIS T?

OTHER VEHICLES

The DAM unit GMX 236 also carried some foam.

Pump Escape was a “FORD” with a “BARTON” Pump GLT 357

Hose laying Lorry with 5,000 feet of hose.

An Austin 7 for various station uses

And a bicycle for checking the Dams, Streams, Rivers, and ponds etc.

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STATION C.1.Z HORSHAM

Canvas Dams or surface tanks were constructed and filled ready for use, at many sights around Horsham. One was on the Carfax, another down the Bishopric, one by the Iron Bridge. Each of these held about 10,000 gallons of water, and they were checked and filled regularly so that they were always ready for use, should an emergency arise.

Pumps were later installed in the village sub-stations including Crawley (then still a village), Cowfold, Broadbridge heath, Mannings Heath, and Roffey. These also had to be serviced weekly by men from the Horsham Station.

For the first few months the men slept on the station floor, between the Fire engines. And sometimes in the hayloft on makeshift beds and mattresses, until they collected enough wooden grocery boxes to build themselves a more comfortable hut, in the park. There was an allotment where the men demonstrated how much food could be grown on a small piece of land and added to their families’ food rations. Apart from their ordinary duties, Horsham Firemen assisted the local community. They organised a number of social functions and lent a hand in running Fetes for many worthy causes. Each Christmas the children of the fire men were given a party at the fire Station, all the toys were made by the men in the little spare time available to them.

In the summer months they gave displays in the park to entertain the public.

A savings group was organized at the Station, and the average monthly collection for the Red Cross Penny a week Fund was about 30/- £1.50p

Co-operation between the N.F.S. and the other Civil Defence Services was extremely good and combined exercises were frequently held. The firemen instructing the Home Guard, Troops stationed locally and the civil Defence in the best way to deal with any of the fires they came in contact with. For all this work they received £3.00 a week and NO overtime. Once they had arrived at the incident, they stayed until all was made safe. However long it took.

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Full time Firemen

MR ROBERT BLAKE

MR R. MILES

MR. F. RICHARDSON.

MR H. OSLEY

MR C. BROOKS

MR F. DULLFIELD

MR G. LONDON.

MR. A.J.MANVILLE

MR P.G.DODD (Warnham Sub Station)

MR G. PERKINS (WARNHAM Sub- Station)

MR DAVE SHOUGBRIDGE (Southwater Sub-Station)

MR STANBRIDGE

MR JICOAMELIE (Roffey Sub-Station)

MR ALLAN DAVEY

MR GEORGE ETHERIDGE

MR A ETHERIDGE.

MR GEORGE GARETT

MR W. ROWLAND

MR FREDDIE GREEST

MR J CADD

MR DENNY

MR IAN CAMPELL (Killed at Colegate)

MR JACK CONSTABLE (Killed at Colegate)

MR WILLIAM DOIK. (Killed at Colegate)

MR STAN ROSE.

MISS VERA BROOKS

MISS MARGERY BENNETT

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The Horsham Fire Brigade was not limited to the town, but sent to most of the surrounding villages, towns, and even the Cities. They were also on Standby in London, Dover, Folkestone, Tunbridge Wells and East Grinstead. Portsmouth, Southampton, Chichester and places in between. The early days of the war were quiet, but in Horsham on January 12th 1940 there was a tremendous fire at Victory Road School (Caused by a faulty central heating System). The school was completely destroyed by the blaze, the heat so intense that it melted the glass in the windows and welded together coins left classrooms. For all the heat generated it was still a freezing night, wet uniforms froze, and tin helmets were covered with ice. The firemen worked for six hours to control the blaze, greatly hindered by the lack of water pressure and were later criticized for the time it had taken them.

In August there was a Heavy enemy bombing raid on Portsmouth. 64 high explosive bombs and 3 oil bombs were also dropped on Chichester a focal point for the central administration of the Police, A.R.P. and emergency wartime services in the region. 117 people were killed, 99 seriously wounded. Horsham firemen were sent to help, during the night the men had a great deal of bomb damage to deal with, they found themselves climbing over rubble to put out fires and rescue the injured. The following morning they returned to the scene to help with making safe. When climbing to the top of the pile of rubble he had been working from, the night before, my father found the remains of a male body; he had been unknowingly standing on the night before. The thought of this horrified him and affected him for many years. Horsham Brigade worked for a week day and night. And all this time they had to supply their own food and drink. No provision was made for the welfare of fire crews in the early days. A catering van was supplied by the generosity of the people of Canada the following year.

In September 1940 the German air force and England’s fire brigades began a battle every bit as fearsome as those being fought on the front line, and became one of the busiest times for Horsham’s crew. They raced with huge numbers of other fire engines to London and became part of the 25,000 firemen, from all over southeast England that fought the fires of the London blitz.

Most of the firemen in England joined the A.F.S a short time before the war, some had not been in service long enough to have attended a serious fire. The beginning of the blitz was a terrifying sight to these people. The heat, smoke and noise made it difficult to control a natural fear of fire and the enormity of the task were daunting. Everywhere they looked great sheets of roaring flame leapt about them, making it so bright that there was no difficulty in finding their way. Walls came crashing down around them, and enemy planes flew over their heads. From the 7th September the Luftwaffe raided London day and night, at first the attack was centred on the Docks, this is where the Horsham men were sent. When they arrived a terrible black smoke hung over the city, all that could be seen was the cross on top of St. Paul’s Cathedral shining above it.” A truly awesome site”. Bombing did not subside until the 5th October; after which most raids took place at night. The attack ended at last on the 8th December giving both fire service and the people of London a welcome chance to recover.

But the war came closer to their home ground, when a bomb landed on the house of the district nurse in Colgate, a village close to Horsham, she was rescued and taken to the first aid post at the village hall, but two other bombs followed, one hit the Post Office, the second fell on the Village Hall, killing the nurse who had just been taken there for safety and wounding a first aid worker, who later died. Another bomb exploded close to the church gate, it killed three members of the Auxiliary Fire Service. Three more bombs fell on the village that night, but did not explode, although one of them did go off some time later.

Between times Horsham’s firemen still dealt with House and chimney fires, Farm buildings and haystacks fires, and the many accidents caused by the blackout. Enemy planes crashed quite regularly around the area, the fires they caused had to be extinguished quickly before they made a beacon to attract other enemy bombers.

Incendiary fires burnt fiercely in St Leonard’s Forest where another Fire fighter lost his life. But there was still more was yet to come.

On the evening of November 29th another enemy attack was made on Horsham, and a two-year-old girl was rescued from a house in Orchard Road, where seven people were killed. One of the dead, a young evacuee, had been sent to the town for safety, from London. It was a Friday; the bomb went down the middle of the road, taking out the front of the houses. One young child had a lucky escape, but was left an orphan. The Fire Brigade were hindered by the broken water main and filled buckets from one of the bomb craters in the road to douse the fire. There were 23 casualties.

In the early evening of 29th December 100,000 firebombs were dropped on London by the Luftwaffe. Firemen each worked in fifteen hours shifts, rescuing the injured and extinguishing the fires. They were soaked to the skin within minutes of arriving, the wet cloths getting heavier and colder as the night went on adding to the misery and mayhem that surrounded them. Fires raged in the open, at petrol stations, timber yards, warehouses, paint and chemical works, also among the homes of Londoners. Bombs fell constantly making new fires and taking lives, flames lighting the way for the enemy bombers. Splinters from shells flew through the streets causing more injuries and destruction. Two of Horsham’s exhausted men, stopped by a tea wagon and shared their sandwiches with a pair from another brigade. When they parted company to return to their posts, a-bomb burst overhead killing both of their new found friends; uninjured, Horsham’s two startled firemen returned to the task of fighting fires.

The following year on the 10th-11th May the Luftwaffe struck again. Dropping hundreds more Bombs on the east end of London. Again Horsham sent its firemen to the rescue. Fires were burning fiercely all around them. Bombs were still falling and exploding, Buildings crumbled and fell burning to the ground shooting sparks and flames high into the night sky, chemicals in warehouses added to the danger as they exploded from the heat or added their poisons to the air. The vast amount of water used to quench fires flowed into the bomb craters hiding them from view and creating yet another hazard. Young boys rode motorcycles through burning streets, over miles of hose, craters, water and debris with messages from their fire crews and control centres. Woman telephonists, ignoring the danger around them, worked on so that the emergency services could to keep in contact with each other. The woman’s Auxiliary Fire Service drove petrol-laden tankers, through hot sparks and flaming, crater-ridden streets to keep the fire engines mobile. Or drove canteen wagons to the worst hit areas in order to feed exhausted men and offer support, encouragement and that important cup of tea.

Men and women had volunteered for the A.F.S. from all walks of life. Few of them realized what they would have to face, some of them gave their lives, others returned to civilian life, hoping for a quieter more peaceful future. But these men and women never forgot the sites, sounds or fear of the war years. All of them disserve recognition and a permanent place in the history of Great Britain.

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INCIDENTS AT HORSHAM WAR TIME N. F. S.

1940 24th AUGUST

Heavy bombing raid on Portsmouth. 117 killed 99 seriously wounded.

64 high explosive bombs and 3 oil bombs were dropped

Chichester, as County Town of West Sussex, was a focal point for the central administration of Police, A.R.P. and all emergency wartime services in the region. It was to Hospitals in Chichester that many of the casualties of the Blitz on Portsmouth and Southampton were taken during 1941 because it was thought to be safer, and there was more room, as many local hospitals were full.

1941

THE DIARY OF.

BLAKE. ROBERT CHARLES. (AGED 32)

HILTON COTTAGE

TOWER HILL

HORSHAM

SUSSEX

TELEPHONE NUMBER 273

NOTES.

LICENCES.

MOTOR DRIVER-------------------- £. 5s. 0d = [25p]

ROAD TAX

MOTOR CYCLES --- 150cc -------- £. 17s. 6d =[87 1\2p]

250cc -------- £1. 17s. 6d = [£1.87 1\2p]

Over------- 250cc -------- £3. 15s. 0d = [£3.75p]

MOTOR CYCLE (With trailer or sidecar)

£1. 5 s. 0d = [£1.25p]

DOG LICENCE (renew yearly 31st December)

7s. 6d = [37 1\2p]

Dogs under 6 months except.]

FIRE ARMS

To carry a gun or firearm of any description

Renew yearly (31st July) -------------- 10s. 0p = [50p]

Persons holding Game Licences, Soldiers, Sailors & Volunteers are exempt.

GAME LICENCE renew annually (1st Aug-31st July) £3. 0.0 = [£3.]

To Kill from Aug 1st- 31st Oct ---------------------------- £2. 0. 0 =[£2.]

. . . 1st Nov - 31st Jul ---------------------------- £2 .0. 0 = [£2.]

To Kill for 14 consecutive days -------------------------- £1. 0. 0 =[£1]

GAMEKEEPERS ------------------------------------------ £2. 0. 0 [£2]

WIRELESS RECEIVING LICENCE ---------------- 10s =[50p]

Registered Blind Free

CASH ACCOUNT.

INCOME PAYMENTS.

PER YEAR @ 3_5 = £165

“ I\2 “ = £ 84. 10s

- INSURANCE £ 2. 7s. 8d

- INSURANCE £ 4. 15s. 4d

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TOTAL = £249. 10s £ 8. 13s

£249.50p £8.65p = £240.85

£4.63p per week.

LIST OF BOOK READ (While at Station waiting to be called out)

SEA DOG OF TO-DAY

MIND OF THE BEE

AFRICAN MYSTERIES

NEWS FROM FANTASY

FAN VISTAS by Sin P Phillips

MAYOR OF CARSTONBRIDGE

THROUGH THE Belgian Congo

JANUARY

WED 1st 1941

Quiet day and night. No Enemy Action.

FEBRUARY 13th 1941

Beau fighter 1F Crashed at Partridge Green.

MARCH.

SUNDAY 9th

Heavy raid on the Portsmouth Area

MONDAY 10th

Called to the Station early evening and sent to Chichester with one man and the Dam Lorry, on to Gosport, congested with Water Units.

Bombs were dropped on Chichester but there were no injuries and very little damage to property,

TUESDAY 11th

Released at 11 a.m., tried until 3.30 p.m. to get petrol. Left Gosport at 4 p.m. and arrived home at 6.15p.m.

MARCH 12th 1941

Heinkell 111 was shot down and crashed at Ockly.ST. FW. KARL BRUNING pilot was wounded. The Canadians took him to Horsham police station where he was transferred to the Hospital. He was in need of an operation.

FW ALEXANDER DUSSEL was killed when his parachute failed to open and he landed in Lintotts field Holbrook. He was buried at Hills Cemetery.

MARCH 13th 1941 THURSDAY.

German Bomber crashed on Broomers Corner Shipley, and Blew up it was a Heinkell 111 All the occupants were killed, all were buried at Hills Cemetery

They were

UFFZ ERIC HERMANN

UFFZ GRAF CALLICE

GEFR LEOPOLD SCHMID

OBERGEFR, W HALLERT.

One enemy aircraft machine-gunned and bombed Tangmere airfield at 11.45 and killed one Airman.

MARCH 14th 1941

Enemy bomber was bought down in flames the German Pilot was found in a field close to Pond Tail Road, his parachute was unopened.

FRIDAY 14th

Went to the wreckage at Broomers

My Mother had friends living at Broomers Corner and their Cottage was badly damaged by the plane. Mum went there on the 14th and was horrified by what she saw. A happy dog trotted past her in the gateway carrying a large bone, obviously human. The debris was everywhere. Dad never spoke about it. When as child I asked him what it had been like, all he would say was. “ When it comes down to it, they were people, not that much different to us.”

APRIL

APRIL 10th 1941

Heinkell 111 crashed at Alfold Cross Roads

APRIL 11th 1941

A German pilot was rescued from a burning plane at Plummers Plain UNTEROFFIZIER ALFRED LENZ was taken to Horsham Hospital, but died the day after flames from his burns. He was buried at Hill Cemetery, but later in 1950 his remains were removed to the German War Cemetery at Cannock Chase.

His plane was a ME109

Three Men were awarded Commendations for their efforts to save him.

APRIL 17th 1941

Junkers JU88 Crashed at slaughters Bridge.

I had been thought that crew had got out safely. But they were later found, caught up in the trees, but local school children that had gone to help clear up the wreckage

The men killed were F.W. HIENZ BUKART

OBERTW. WOLFGANG HASELSTEINER

OBER WALTER RUDI SCHEITAUER

OBERGEFR BRUNO KALMUS

Defiant 1 Crashed at Slaugham.

APRIL 18th 1941

The Auxiliary Fire Brigade is amongst the Bonfire Offenders that appeared in Court.

MAY.

SATURDAY 10th

Sent to Gravesend at 2 a.m. to stand by.

LONDON HIT BY THE WORST EVER AIR RAID. I, 400 CIVILIANS DIED

On the 10th-11th may 1941 the Luftwaffe struck London again. Hundreds of high explosives fell on the East End of London, as did thousands of incendery bombs. It is reported that 550 enemy aircraft took part in the raid.

The House of Commons was hit, the roof of Westminster Hall set on fire, the square tower of Westminster Abbey collapsed. Fire damaged The British Museum and St. Paul’s Cathedral all four of London’s main railway stations suffered damage in raid.

SUNDAY 11th

Arrived at Gravesend 4.30a.m. Stand by

Released 5.30p.m. Arrived home at 8.30.

MAY 14th1941 WEDNESDAY

Telephone call at 4.10p.m. Left the Station at 4.12pm.

Mrs Midernes

Ivory Cottage. Colegate. (A Dwelling House)

Cause: A Foul Chimney

Appliances, Bedford Tender

Engineer F. RICHARDSON.

Auxiliary Firemen R. BLAKE.

Crew dismissed at 6.16p.m.

FRIDAY 16th

Made Sub Officer.

G.G. Voluntarily giving up rank

FRIDAY 23rd

Increase in wages. 5/-

JUNE 1940

JULY 1940

AUGUST 13th 1941

Lancaster J B605 Crashed at Oakwood Hill

28th AUGUST 1941

Junkers JU88 crashed at Partridge Green.

All those aboard were killed all buried at Hills Cemetery.

OBERFW EITEL FREDRICH MIELKE

UFFZ JOSEZ STEPNIEWICZ

UFFZ WALTER DANKENBRINK

UFFZ O. HAEFKER

SEPTEMBER

SATURDAY 20th

Applied for Rank Sect. Leader.

THURSDAY 25th

To Worthing for Interview.

OCTOBER

WEDNESDAY 29th

Left for Folkestone Reserve Base with the pump and crew in the morning.

Spent afternoon getting petrol.

THURSDAY 30th

7.0 - PT Double along the front.

9a.m Parade

Then Officers Parade Drill in afternoon, followed by a Gas lecture.

NOVEMBER

SATURDAY 15th

Harwood / Cook Hospital. 2700 + 850 = 3,550/7 pumps.

TUESDAY 18th

Rations ½. IS T.M

FRIDAY 21st

Rations

TUESDAY 25th

Rations

1942

FRIDAY 10th 9P.M. 1st Crew sent to Pompey with pump. 11.45 Leave with Dennis T.R. for Chi. (Chichester) sent from there to Pompey. Whole Town a blaze. Guild Hall Gutted

Wandering from house to house unable to get direction on water.

Got busy around 6. Mostly damping down.

SATURDAY 11th p.m. pump broke down, after 2 hours waiting we got sent home many bombs dropped as we left.

SUNDAY 12th Two Incendiary bombs dropped 8.35p.m. One in the Park one in Albion Road both were attended by A.F.S. Fires extinguished.

MARCH.

SUNDAY 9th Heavy raid on the Portsmouth Area

MONDAY 10th Called to the Station early evening and sent to Chichester with one man and the Dam Lorry, on to Gosport, congested with Water Units.

TUESDAY 11th released at 11 a.m., tried until 3.30 p.m. to get petrol. Left Gosport at 4 p.m. and arrived Home at 6.15p.m.

THURSDAY 13th German Bomber crashed on Broomers Corner Shipley, and Blew up

29th September 1942

28 boys killed when a school at Petworth was bombed 2 teachers and two civilians also died

OCTOBER

WEDNESDAY 29th Left for Folkestone Reserve Base with the pump and crew in the morning. Spent afternoon getting petrol.

1943.

JANUARY

Brigade Chief Mr J.C.Gadd died. He had served the Fire Brigade for 35 years and to pay tribute to him, his coffin was placed on a fire engine and carried in a procession to the Funeral Service.

WEDNESDAY 19th JANUARY 1943

Catford, South East London.

At about 12.30 p.m. bombs were dropped directly on a school of 5 to 15 year old children 44 were killed 6 of them were teachers. 60 badly injured

FEBRUARY TUESDAY 2ND to a Fire at Clock House Cowfold A sunny day Returned 09.50 The Fire took five hours to get under control.

4th February 1943

Two bombs fell at West Green Church of E England School at 8. 30 a.m. only the cleaner was on the premises and although there was a great deal of damage to the building no one was hurt.

SATURDAY 6TH 1700 at the School,

8th February 1943 Bombs fell on station road Crawley Killing two women.

WEDNESDAY 10TH Bombs fell on Wimblehurst and Richmond Road

An air attack by a lone aircraft took place on Horsham with bombs falling in Wimblehurst road, Richmond Road and Craven Lodge. There were three serious casualties and six slightly wounded. Two houses were destroyed and over sixty were damaged

No one was killed

FRIDAY 19th Exams at the Station all day

MARCH SUNDAY 21st WORTHING arrived 2100 hours, L/F Course. St. Romans.

MONDAY 22nd Drills and Lectures.

TUESDAY 23rd Lectures followed by Hook Ladder Drill

WEDNESDAY 24th Drills and Lectures

THURSDAY 25th Drills and Lectures

FRIDAY 26th Drills and Lectures

SATURDAY 27th Left Worthing by lorry 12.45. Arrived home at 2

SUNDAY 28th R.Y.W. by Bus

MONDAY 29TH Drills and lectures

30th MARCH / 2nd APRIL Lectures and Drills.

APRIL SATURDAY 3rd Lecture at 3p.m. 4 0,clock leave Worthing for home. Warm and sunny.

MONDAY 5th On duty Horsham, testing pumps.

TUESDAY 6th Pump Testing

WEDNESDAY 7th 3RKE IRAB

FRIDAY 9th Children’s concert a great success

SUNDAY 11th On Duty

FRIDAY 16th Muster 1900

SUNDAY 18th E 1 Wishurst Camp

TUESDAY 20th got dog out of 6.W.S First day under new C/O Many changes taking place

TUESDAY 27th Emptied the Dam on the Carfax.

WEDNESDAY 28th R.R.S.Music postponed until Saturday.

MAY

MONDAY 10th P.T.E 9 P.M.

FRIDAY 14th Lecture at the Fire Station

MONDAY 17th On Duty

THURSDAY 20th A.F.S. 2 left for Broadwater on pipe laying.

FRIDAY 21st Pipe laying

SUNDAY 23rd Left for Worthing 13.15

MONDAY 24th to wet for pipe laying.

TUESDAY 25th MAY At midday 25 FOCKE WULF 190s Dropped 381 bombs and indiscriminately gunned the Town of Brighton 24 people died, 51 were seriously injured.

WEDNESDAY 26th Bus to Worthing. Painting Hydrants.

THURSDAY 27th Pipe Laying

FRIDAY 28th Home on the 10 Bus.

SATURDAY 29th Recalled to Worthing at 9a.m

Back at Horsham 5p.m. MONDAY 31st

JUNE

TUESDAY 1st Returned to Worthing 9a.m. Pipe Laying

WEDNESDAY 2nd Thunder Storms

THURSDAY 3rd Fires were started.

FRIDAY 4th Worthing, pipe laying

Friday 19th JULY 1943

THE White Hall Cinema at East Grinstead was bombed 108 people died. Complete families among then. Bodies were thrown into the rafters and on to the street

235 were injured

Many disappeared without trace.

The weather was dull it was the school holidays.

The enemy plane was a Dornier 217 it circled the town and then dropped eight bombs in London Road and the High Street.

The cinema collapsed and fires spread in the rouble from building to building

LIST OF FIREMEN, HORSHAM. “C” 1943

NAME NUMBER . RANK . NAME NUMBER . RANK.

PART-TIME.

PIERCE C. W. 726117 Messgr RICHARDSON C. H. 726362 Fm

ROWLAND H. 726363 Fm ROGERS C. H. 726364 L. Fm

BUDGEN J. P. 726365 L. Fm HOWARD S. J. 726366 L. Fm

HOOK F. 726368 L. Fm KILLICK F. S. 726369 Fm

KING J. F. V. 726371 Fm PELLING T. W. 726373 Fm

JUPP J. W. 726374 L. Fm HOLMWOOD L.J. 726375 Fm

COWLES W. S. 726376 Fm LINFIELD A.S. 726377 Fm

PARKER R. G. 726378 Fm TYLER W. P. F. 726379 Fm

MILLS R. 726380 Fm WATTS R. 726382 Fm

CHEAL A. 726383 Fm SMITH P. 726385 Fm

WALKER H. A. S. 726387 Fm BURRAGE G.H. 726388 Fm

LIND A. E. 726390 Fm ETHERIDGE A. 726393 S. L.

BRACKPOOL S.J. 726395 Fm. BULL F. T. 726394 Fm

CHRISS S. H. 726396 Fm. GIBSON D.S. 727625 Messgr

PEIRCE E. H. 727601 Messgr BIGHALL W. H. 727602 Fm.

SULLIVAN C. 720877 Fm. HICKMAN J. E. 952491 F.W.

JARVIS M. U. 952492 F.W. MURRELL L. R. 952494 Fw.

BENNETT L.E. 952523 Fw. MILLS V. E. M. 952531 L. Fw.

BOXALL E. 952570 Fw FOREMAN J. M. 952577 Fw.

Whole Time

NYE F.J. 169559 Fm. (Transferred from another St.) NOVIS F. W. 215112 Fm. (Transferred from another St.)

DIMMOCK A.W. 232378 Fm. (Transferred from another St.) RICHARDSON F. 333593 Fm

GRAVETT G. 333594 Fm. BOOKER K. 333595 Fm.

BLAKE R. C. 333597 Fm. MILES A. E. 333598 Fm.

HYDE A. W. L. 333599 Fm. NELSON D.G. 333600 L.Fm.

PESKETT W. G. 333601 L.Fm. BUSH H. C. 333662 Fm.

GREEST F. C. 333680 Fm. LAKER. 333694 Fm.

WILLIAMSON 333738 Fm. WARD F. J. 333744 Fm

BROOKS C.G. 333748 Fm OSLEY H. 333749 Fm.

DUFFIELD T. W. 333750 L.Fm. HAMBLETON W. C. 333751 Fm.

PARFITT K.S. 333752 Fm. GATES W.H. 333753 Fm.

ELCOME N. R. 333754 Fm. LAMPARD A. A. 333755 Fm.

BELTON L.W. 333841 Fm. JONES C. W. C. 333861 Fm.

HEDGER F. P. 333904 Fm. FRANCIS H. R. 726720 Fm.

EVERSHED B. 727603 Fm. SEWELL W.L. 333956 L. Fm.

HAYMEN R. M. 333642 S.L. (Transferred from another St.)

CLAYTON E. 848084 Fw. (Transferred from another St.)

BENNETT M. J. 860954 Fw. BUCKLER J. 860963 Fw.

DENHAM E. E. 880537 Fw. HENDERSON K.M. 880538 Fw.

BURD E. E. 860592 Fw. (Transferred from another St)

1944

JANUARY 1944 THURSDAY 6th Rick Fire at Kerves Lane.

FRIDAY 7th Plane crash at Alfold. I remained in charge of Station. Two Mitchell Aircraft collided at Rikkyo School,

SUNDAY 9th Notified that Rank Ceases on the 14th

FRIDAY 14th Revert to rank of Fireman as requested

TUESDAY 18th Fire Guard Exercise

FRIDAY 21st Two Fairly Heavy Raids 8.30p.m. And 4.30a.m.

SATURDAY 22nd Magic Lantern shows by K.B. at the Station. Fire call to Southwater. (Sawdust)

SUNDAY 23rd Worked at Jackson’s 9a.m. Until 1p.m.

SATURDAY 29th Social at the Station. V. Went

SUNDAY 30th Filled the Bishopric Dam, Fire calls to Lower Beeding.

FEBRUARY 1944 WEDNESDAY 2nd Chimney Fire at Rudgwick

THURSDAY 3rd Two Raids. One at 9p.m. The other at 5 a.m.

SUNDAY 27th Exercises

MARCH 1944 THURSDAY 2ND VD Lecture at the Town Hall

MONDAY 6th Heath Fire at Hammer Pond. 1500 until 1800

TUESDAY 7th Fire Call to Billingshurst 10.00

FRIDAY 24th Regional calls, over the Downs to Brighton and Shoreham, to inspect the Harbour. Heavy Raid. Out all night on Rick fire at North Heath.

SATURDAY 25th Social at the Station.

SUNDAY 26th Bush fire at Doomsday Grange, Pump got stuck in the undergrowth.

TUESDAY 28th Asked to go on driving course. (Held at Worthing)

WEDNESDAY 29th Driving course to Bognor, Arundel, and Horsham.

THURSDAY 30th Driving course to Horsham, Dorking and Guildford.

FRIDAY 31st Driving Course to Petworth, Midhurst. Had a breakdown at Lavant. Learnt to drive and work pumps.

APRIL 1944 1st The Airfield at Coolham opened.

MONDAY 3rd Driving Course. Horsham, Dorking and Guildford

TUESDAY 4th Driving Course

WEDNESDAY 5th Driving Course. At the workshops at Midhurst with the pump Followed by a short drive in the dark.

THURSDAY 6th Driving Course. Bognor to Littlehampton. Driving Test.

FRIDAY 7th Driving Course. Arundel, Littlehampton, Three Horsham babies died in a fire at Hindhead Maternity Home.

MONDAY 10th 9a.m. Bus to Worthing. Driving Course. Arundel to Horsham

TUESDAY 11th Driving Course, Dorking, Guilford and Woking.

WEDNESDAY 12th Driving Course. Storrington, Horsham, Crawley.

THURSDAY 13th Driving Course. Bognor to Littlehampton. PASSED DRIVING Test-Driving Course. Selsey, Midhurst, Petworth.

MONDAY 17th On duty at Horsham. Dam Inspections. Sawdust fire at Southwater 5p.m. Until 9.30p.m. Dull cold day

TUESDAY 18th Pumping at Crawley Bye Pass, Drove out and Back.

FRIDAY 19th APRIL 1944 MESSERSCHMITT 410 CRASHED AT COOKS FARM NUTHURST

PILOTS UFFZ ERNEST TESCH & LT REINHOLD WITT WERE KILLED MUSTANG CRASHED AT HONEYWOOD HOUSE, ROWHOOK

FRIDAY 21st Pumping for the Navy at Southwater Brick works all day, Sunny but cool

SUNDAY 23rd A Rick Fire at Loxwood.

MONDAY 24th Pumping all day at Southwater Brickwork’s.

WEDNESDAY 26th On Duty at the Station

THURSDAY 27TH Pumping at Southwater Brick Works.

FRIDAY APRIL 28th 1944 NEW MOBILE CANTEEN IS GIVEN TO THE N.F.S.

BY CANADIAN SCHOOL CHILDREN.

MAY 1944 MONDAY 1st PUMPING AT SOUTHWATER BRICKWORKS WORKS

WEDNESDAY 3rd PUMPING AT SOUTHWATER BRICK WORKS FOR THE NAVY

FRIDAY 5th ON DUTY AT THE STATION.

SATURDAY 6th PUMPING FOR THE NAVY AT SOUTHWATER BRICK WORKS

MONDAY 8th AND TUESDAY 9th ON DUTY AT THE STATION.

THURSDAY 11th ON DUTY 2p.m.

SUNDAY 14th Cold dull day ON DUTY.

MONDAY 15th ON GARAGE SITE ALL DAY SHORT LEAVE 7 UNTIL 10

SATURDAY 20th SELLING FLAGS FOR HOSPITAL AT STATION. CHILDREN’S PARTY.

SUNDAY 21st DULL COLD DAY, PUMPING AT SOUTHWATER BRICK WORKS HOME LEAVE 8p.m. UNTIL 10p.m.

TUESDAY 23rd PUMPING AT SOUTHWATER BRICK WORKS.

WEDNESDAY 24th PUMPING AT HAWHOBOURN FARM Home Leave 8 p.m. until 10p.m.

MAY 25th 1944 A SPITFIRE CRASHED AT MAPLEHURST

SATURDAY 27th PUMPING AT SOUTHWATER.

SUNDAY MAY 28th 1944 two trains collided at Horsham Station.

MONDAY 29th QUIET DAY AT THE STATION.

TUESDAY 30th PUMPING AT HARWOOD. FILLING DAM.

JUNE 1944 THURSDAY 1st South Water all afternoon until 6p.m.

FRIDAY 2nd Southwater all day from 9a.m until 9 p.m

SATURDAY 3rd Changed the ration books

SUNDAY 4th Pumping at Southwater Brick Works.

MONDAY 5th Filling Dam in Kings Road, morning Pumping at Southwater Brickworks in the afternoon

TUESDAY 6th Flying Bomb fell at Marlands Barnsgreen Demolishing the Stables and killing 50 chickens another came to earth at Chesworth Farm demolishing Farm Buildings.

FRANCE INVADED

A Map of Southeast England during the preparations for “D”Day

WEDNESDAY 7th (Continuous Duty) Pumping at South Water Brick works Double plane crash at Kay’s lane and Kerves Lane, Horsham.

THURSDAY 8th Pumping at Southwater until 4.30a.m. Then attended plane crash at Kerves Lane. Then back to Pumping at Southwater Brick Works. Cold drizzly weather. TWO MITCHELL 11 AIRCRAFT COLLIDED OVER HORSHAM

The two planes had taken off from Dunsfold Aerodrome, loaded with leaflets, which were to be dropped over France the two planes collided above Horsham, crashing in Denne Park. It was a dark night. One plane was burning on the hill. As the N.F.S. got the pumps into position it exploded. Dispersing parts of the plane, bodies and limbs of the crew, and thousands of leaflets, all over the hillside. The second plane had crashed at Kerves Lane, But wasn't visible; the Fire Crew spread out in the darkness to find it. The reason it could not be seen was because it laid in a very deep crater, as the men approached, an unexploded bomb on board went off, all the men had a very lucky escape, because of the depth of the crater, the force of the blast went upwards. All the aircraft’s crew was killed.

SATURDAY 10th STATION ALL DAY Fete in the Park.

SUNDAY 11th Took Pump and T.V. to D.W.S. Left at 8.15a.m. Returned at 5p.m.

WEDNESDAY 14th PUMPING AT SOUTHWATER Brick Works.

THURSDAY 15th On Duty 9p.m. Three Alerts between 11p.m. And 7.30a.m.

FRIDAY 16th Four Alerts DURING Daylight. Driving W.O. to Crawley, Faygate and West Grinstead. Pilot less planes being sent over by enemy making another noisy night.

SATURDAY 17th Several Flying Bombs passed over during the night and morning.

SUNDAY 18th Clear view of flying bombs passing over, all travelling west. Several more in the night. Heath Fire at Gravesland 2a.m. Until 8 a.m.

MONDAY 19th Cleaning Hose. Quiet night. TUESDAY 20th JUNE 1944

FLYING BOMBS DID DAMAGE IN CHRISTHOSPITAL,

THEY ALSO LANDED AT ITCHINGFIELD, IFIELD BILLINGSHURST, COWFOLD, BARNSGREEN, PARTRIDGE GREEN, COLEGATE, WARNHAM, SHIPLEY, MANNINGSHEATH, SLINFOLD, RUSPER & RUDGWICK.

FRIDAY 23rd Home leave 6p.m. Until 8p.m 8.15p.m Forest Fire at Hands Cross-. I’M on Dam Lorry, returned to Station 3.30a.m.

SATURDAY 24th HAVING RETURNED TO Station at 3.30a.m.

SUNDAY 25th ON DUTY, QUIET DAY

MONDAY 26th On Duty at the Station. Flying Bombs went over Occasionally

THURSDAY 29th Petrol Lorry over turned at Kingsfold, No Fire home 8.10 Flying bomb fell at Christ Hospital at 5 a.m.

The RAF shot down a ''Doodlebug’’, which shattered windows and broke the roof tiles and slats in the Bishopric and West Street Horsham. Another exploded at Holmbush and one more at St Leonard’s Forest House, no one was hurt. But there was damage to property.

FRIDAY 30th To Tooting. Nerve racking day. Flying Bombs continually falling. Glad to arrive home 9.15.

JULY SATURDAY 1st FLYING BOMB FELL ON BILLINGSHURST

SUNDAY 2nd SEVERAL FLYING BOMBS FELL ON DISTRICT

MONDAY 3rd RAINING UNTIL 5 FLYING BOMBS FELL ON BARNSGREEN AT 3.30. Two Farm Cottages demolished in Barns green by a Flying Bomb. A mother and young baby were rescued by the N.F.S

TUESDAY 4th ON DUTY AT STATION

MONDAY 10th FLYING BOMB FELL AT CRAWLEY.

Flying Bomb fell on the junction of Oak Road and West Street, Crawley. It killed 7 people and injured 44. 12 houses were demolished. Many others damaged.

RICK FIRE AT KERVES LANE

TUESDAY 11th ATTENDED RICK FIRE AT Dial POST

WEDNESDAY 12th . FIRST TOTAL LULL IN FLYING BOMBS SINCE 13th JUNE

FRIDAY 14th JULY 1944 A woman was killed by a flying bomb, baby was found unharmed. Two Women were killed at Barns Green by Flying Bombs

SUNDAY 16th DROVE TO HENFIELD WITH A HOSE.

WEDNESDAY 19th WENT BY CAR TO WARNHAM, RUSPER AND CRAWLEY. BOMB FELL AT WARNHAM

THURSDAY 20th DAM INSPECTION

FRIDAY 21st 5 A.M. FLYING BOMB FELL AT THE BACK OF GORRINGS MEAD

SATURDAY 22nd DAM INSPECTION

SUNDAY 30th Flying bomb fell at Rudgwick

MONDAY 31st FIRE CHIEF MR ERNEST DENNY. BURIED 2.30p,m. HORSHAM PARISH CHURCH.

AUGUST 1944 Driving all day and servicing

FRIDAY 4th ATTENDED FLYING BOMB INCIDENT AT MADGELANDS.

MONDAY 7th RICK FIRE CALL AT SEDGWICK FARM 5A.M. UNTIL MIDNIGHT.

WEDNESDAY 9th RICK FIRE AT SEDGWICK BROKE OUT AGAIN

THURSDAY 10th GRASS FIRE AT COPSALE COURT, ATTENDED WITH DAM LORRY.

SATURDAY 19th CLEANING F. G. DAM AND DRIVING DAM LORRY. Very wet afternoon.

MONDAY 21st IN T.V. TO WATERSFIELD FIRST AID LECTURES, returned home 5 p.m. weather reasonable

TUESDAY 22nd TO WATERSFIELD, EXTINGUISHED A LORRY FIRE ON ROUTE. HOME 5p.m.

THURSDAY 24th TO WATERSFIELD. FILMS AND LECTURES, RETURNED AT 5p.m

FRIDAY 25th TO WATERSFIELD FOR DEMONSTRATIONS AND REVUE. RETURNED 5p.m.

MONDAY 28th D.L. to Broadbridge Heath at 7 Flying Bomb incidents. Returned in Fire Car to Broadbridge Heath 11 until 12

WEDNESDAY 30th ON DUTY AT THE STATION.

SEPTEMBER 1944 SATURDAY 2nd Fire call at Q.H. Bucks Green. Out when we arrived. ON STATION DUTY 3rd UNTIL 5th

WEDNESDAY 6th Out on Dam Inspection

FRIDAY 8th Out on the Pipe line most of the Day. A new weapon is being aimed at London from Holland and Germany. The V-2 long range rocket, it weighs 15 tons and carries a one ton warhead, their only warning is described as the noise of an express train as they fall vertically from a height of 50 miles, travelling faster than the speed of sound.

SATURDAY 9th DAM INSPECTION DROVE PUMP TO WEST GRINSTEAD TO DRILL GUYS.

MONDAY 11th Station Duty TUESDAY 12th Station Duty THURSDAY 14th Kitchen Duties FRIDAY 15th Station Routine

SATURDAY 16th Clocks go back one hour. Black out has been relaxed. SUNDAY 17th Dam Inspections MONDAY 18th Station Routine THURSDAY 21st STATION ROUTINE

SATURDAY 23rd STATION ROUTINE (GALE IN THE NIGHT) SUNDAY 24th STATION ROUTINE

OCTOBER 27th 1944

Horsham N.F.S did some good work in supplying water to farms and houses that had been affected by the long spell of drought during the summer. More than sixty appeals for supplies of water for various purposes were made. On forty-three occasions the N.F.S. either conveyed water by means of a Dam Lorry or pumped it from streams. In eighteen cases water was supplied to farms and nurseries for food production and on twenty-five occasions for domestic use owing to wells having dried up or fallen to a low level. Approximately 39,000 gallons were supplied for human consumption.

Outstanding examples of this special service were seen at a farm in Horsham and at a nursing home. In the first instance the N.F.S attended on four occasions and about 90,000 gallons of water were pumped to the farm from a stream in order to supply drinking water for the dairy cattle.

NOVEMBER 1944 THURSDAY 2nd AN ALERT 7.30 UNTIL 8 .50.p.m. HOME AGAIN AT 9.10

MONDAY 6th COMMENCE 24 HOURS ON 24 HOURS OFF DUTY.

TUESDAY 7th CHIMNEY FIRE AT LONDON ROAD 3p.m. UNTIL 4p.m

WEDNESDAY 8th ALERT 9 UNTIL 9.30

TUESDAY 14th Alert 12 to 12.30 WEDNESDAY 15th On Duty feeling groggy, improved during the day.

THURSDAY 16th Lecture on Bournemouth at the fire station.

FRIDAY 17th

Fuller details of the enemy’s bombing attacks on this country were released, the public of Horsham can be told of the part their fire force played during the Battle of Britain days. The Auxiliary Fire Service was started in Horsham Urban District at the end of 1938 when an appeal was made for volunteers and members of the town’s fire brigade gave a demonstration it started with ten recruits, but the numbers gradually increased. Training was carried out at the Fire Station, and after a time men were selected from the ranks to take charge of A.F.S.Crews. Shortly before the outbreak of war a sub-station was opened at Jackson’s Garage. When hostilities began several men were posted to the main station and the sub station on a whole time basis, the first real baptism of fire for the A.F.S. came during a raid on the London Dock area in September 1940. When six firemen and a messenger boy, with patrol Officer Gravett as Officer in charge, formed the crew, which went from Horsham.A.F.S. Personnel later gave valuable service in other raids on London and on Portsmouth and Southampton. On one occasion, while fighting a fire during a raid on Portsmouth, Leading Fireman Seawall and Fireman Booker were burnt about the face. Sewell and Fireman Hamilton had an alarming experience during another attack on Portsmouth. They were standing on the Quay when they heard a-bomb whistling down. They immediately threw themselves flat on the ground, and the bomb shot over their heads and exploded in the sea a few yards away, throwing up a huge column of water, but causing no injury to the two firemen. When the main post office at Portsmouth was set alight by enemy action, a crew from Horsham was the first on the scene and was commended for the efficient manner in which they tackled the blaze. Horsham firemen had an amusing experience when on their way to the London Docks. They stopped at a shop to get cigarettes and found the occupants in a very flustered condition. The request for ‘’smokes’’ went unanswered, and shortly afterwards the men learnt that there was a delayed action bomb in the garden at the rear of the shop! On another occasion a crew from Horsham approached a canteen van to get some refreshments. But a few minutes later the van and the firemen beat a hasty retreat when a delayed action bomb was discovered a short distance away. Another exciting but tragic experience came their way when having a snack. They had shared there rations with two men who a few seconds after they had parted from there hosts, were killed instantly by a bomb. Once when returning from a raid on Portsmouth their towing vehicle ran out of petrol, but with the aid of a stirrup pump, they managed to extract some petrol from their trailer pump and were able to continue their journey homeward. Patrol Officer Gravett was walking through some water in London Dock area during the Blitz when he fell into a bomb crater and hurt his leg. Leading Fireman Sewell received phosphorous burns on his arms when he was engaged at an enemy action fire at Warnham.

These experiences serve to show the hazards, which fire fighters had to face in the days of the Blitz, and which they would willingly have faced again had the invasion of the Continent brought in its wake the expected resumption of heavy bombing.

Apart from their ordinary duties, Horsham Firemen have assisted the local community in many ways. They have organised a number of social functions and have lent a hand in running Fetes and Functions for many worthy causes. Each Christmas the children of whole and part time fire men in the town have been given a party at the fire Station, and toys have been made for them by the personnel.

There is an excellent savings group at the Station, and the average monthly collection for the Red Cross Penny a week Fund is about 30/-

Co-operation between the N.F.S. and the other Civil Defence Services has always been most friendly and combined exercises have frequently been held. Troops and Home Guard personnel have benefited by instruction in elementary fire fighting, given by the town’s firemen.

A Social club was started at the fire station and it was decided to hold a dance on the 29th May 1943. It was difficult to get a hall, as the area had suffered with a little trouble from the troops, and licences had been withdrawn but they were able to book the Nelson Hall, unfortunately this venue did not have a good reputation. It adjoined the pub, which caused more problems Mary Marchant and her Music Makers were engaged to supply the music, they decorated the hall by raiding the Councils Bunting store and spent the best part of the day putting them up. To keep it select they decided to have admission by ticket only. The Dance was a success,

1944

During the summer months 32 Fire Force Area, of which Horsham forms part, did some good work in supplying water to farms and houses which had been affected by the long spell of drought. More than sixty appeals for supplies of water for various purposes were made to the N.F.S. and all were answered with promptitude. . The greatest number of calls came from West Sussex where on forty-three occasions the N.F.S. either conveyed water by means of a Dam Lorry or pumped it from streams. In eighteen cases water was supplied to farms and nurseries for food production, on twenty-five occasions for domestic use owing to well having dried up or fallen to a low level. Approximately 39,000 gallons were supplied for human consumption. Outstanding examples of this special service in West Sussex were seen at a farm in Horsham and at a nursing home. In the first instance the N.F.S attended on four occasions and about 90,000 gallons of water were pumped to the farm from a stream. For consumption by a dairy herd.

1945

JANUARY SATURDAY 6th ON DUTY ICE BREAKING

TUESDAY 9th Snowing all day

WEDNESDAY 10TH

ON DUTY CHIMNEY FIRE AT SHIPLEY 6. 0p.m UNTIL 5.50a.m

FRIDAY 12th STATION DUTY SUNDAY 14th STATION DUTY TUESDAY 16th ON KITCHEN DUTY At some time during this month the airfield at Coolham closed.

FEBRUARY SATURDAY 3rd

SOCIAL AT THE STATION. a.m. ATTENDED MONDAY 5th STATION ROUTINE.

TUESDAY 6th Raining all day. Went to Westerham in the lorry, home at 5p.m. SUNDAY 11th QUIET DAY IN STATION.

FEBRUARY 17th 1945 A HALIFAX 111 CRASHED AT MANNINGS HEATH GOLF COURSE

APRIL 1945 27th APRIL HORSHAM MEN SENT HOME FROM GERMAN PRISONER OF WAR CAMPS

PART TIME FIREMEN STOOD DOWN.

MAY 1944 WEDNESDAY 2nd PUMPING AT SHIPLEY P.O.W. CAMP FRIDAY 4th BY TRAIN TO CHICHESTER AT 2 p.m. FOR DRILL. RETURNED AT 6p.m.

MONDAY 7th END OF WAR ANNOUNCED

TUESDAY 8th OFFICIAL END OF THE WAR. IN EUROPE

A PERFECT SUMMER DAY

TO CHICHESTER BY TRAIN FOR SQUAD DRILL

MAY 11th 1945 VICTORY BELLS RING OUT OVER HORSHAM AND BEACONS ARE LIT IN THE VILLAGES. CROWDS POURED INTO HORSHAM’S FLOODLIT CARFAX TO CELEBRATE.

SUNDAY 13th

ARRIVED FOR DUTY AT CHICHESTER 10.04 a.m. FOR RELEASE SATURDAY 19th FIRE CALL AT CHICHESTER BARRACKS 10a.m UNTIL 12

RICK FIRE AT FELFHAM 1 UNTIL 5p.m.

SUNDAY 20th

NO SLEEP LAST NIGHT, LEFT CHICHESTER 9.25a.m. ARRIVED HOME AT 11a.m

THURSDAY 31st

ON DUTY AT CHICHESTER. RECEIVED REDUNDANCY NOTICE 2.42p.m.

JUNE SUNDAY 3rd

HOME AT 11a.m. MONDAY JUNE 4th PASSED FINAL DRIVING TEST.

TUESDAY 5th

RELEASE FROM N.F.S. ACCEPTED.

WEDNESDAY 13th

LEFT CHICHESTER FOR THE LAST TIME. ARRIVED AT HORSHAM 11a.m

FRIDAY 15th

FINISH WITH THE N.F.S.

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THE CAR’S AND TOWING VEHICLES.

1 CHRYSLER PG 9836 2; VAUXHALL UF 9258 3; VAUXHALL UJ 17264

VAUXHALL NJ 1016 5; BUICK GN 3622 6; BEDFORD PO 8912 7; GILFORD KX 22428

AUSTIN GLC 888 9; AUSTIN GLF 131 10; BEDFORD E T EBP 156 (Horsham Urban District Council appliance before the war, or the A.F.S. started.

PUMPS

1 BEDFORD S C APX 389 2; DENNIS S C PX 9338 3; DENNIS T? These three belonged to the Horsham Urban District Council before either the war or the A.F.S started.

4 APEX T B 2889 5 W-SIMPSON T; D 14657 6 PYRENE T D 36057 PYRENE T D 3648 8 W-SIMPSON T D 14652 9 PYRENE T D 3606 10 DENNIS T?

OTHER VEHICLES

The DAM unit GMX 236 also carried some foam Pump Escape was a “FORD” with a “BARTON” Pump GLT 357

Hose laying Lorry with 5,000 feet of hose. An Austin 7 for various stations uses And a bicycle for checking Dams, Streams, Rivers, and ponds etc.

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SOCIAL ACTIVITIES OF THE HORSHAM FIRE SERVICE.

STATION C.1.Z.

RECORDS KEPT BY SOCIAL SECRETARY Fm. CHARLIE JONES.

ORIGINALLY TYPED BY Fw. BENNET 1943

TYPED BY MARGARET BALDWIN 1998

Charlie Jones joined the Auxiliary Fire Service in 1938 at Dorking.

Went full time at the outbreak of war.

Made up to leading Fireman and based at Dorking Hospital with a part time crew, trailer pump and Buick car.

Later conscripted to the National Fire Service and posted at Chichester.

Later transferred to Horsham [April 1943] until the end of the war.

Note: My husband and I met Mr Jones in a Dorking pub Friday 11th September 1998 after he had telephoned me

He generously lent me his records and gave me permission to copy them or make use of any information that they contained..

Margaret Baldwin 1998

April 1943

On arriving at this Station in April 1943 I was asked to join the Social Club, and on payment of 3/- [15p] found myself a member for the period of six months. It was a week or two later, when I enquired, what the club consisted of, or what happened, only to find that outside of running a cigarette canteen and being able to supply two bars of chocolate, to members each week, off the ration, seemed to be all that was done. Nobody knew where the money ever went to, or even cared, and nothing was ever arranged, in fact there was no interest in the club at all. Apparently in bygone days of the A.F.S. the club had prospered, and was everything that could be expected, but had in the last twelve month just faded away. However Fm. Nye, Fm. Greest and myself were rather keen on having a Dance, run in connection with the Station, by the Social Club, but the committee did not seem very interested and it did not come into being for quite a while.

Anyway we kept worrying the poor Secretary something cruel, but with no results. Then we told him (In fun of course) if they did not soon do something in the matter, we would. He must of thought we meant it, imagine our surprise on coming back to duty one morning to find the three of us had been formed into a Sub. Committee of the club covering Social Events, and told, as we were so interested in this sort of thing, now was our chance. Well we decided to try and see what we could do and started to arrange for a dance to be held on the 29th May 1943. Much against the judgement of our fellow firemen, who said it would not work and we would only run the club into dept. to get over this difficulty Fm. Nye agreed to stand all loss, if we went down, and so we went ahead. Our next trouble was getting a hall, as about this time there was a lot of trouble with the troops, and licences had been withdrawn. Nearly everywhere we tried. In the end we had to content ourselves with the Nelson Hall, a rough old place and of shady character, also adjoining the pub, which made things worse. We had tried the Drill Hall but with no luck, and after hearing the last dance held there went down to the extent of £40

We thought it just as well, or at least Fm. Nye did. For the band we engaged Mary Marchant and her Music Makers. The next thing was what to do with the profit, if any, well it was never any trouble to know what to do with any spare money, the Flower Show Committee wanted some to finance their show, so we decided to let them have it, (if any). Luckily the date was our leave day, and was just as well as there was quite a lot of last minute details to get settled, and the hall to decorate, for this we raided the local Council’s bunting store, and spent the best part of the day putting the darn things up. To keep it select we decided to have admission by ticket only, we had a devil of a job pushing those tickets, but by the day 75% had gone, and at the door we could of sold double that number. The Dance was a success, a little over crowded, but it turned out all right. Col/O Knight, Col/O Harte and several other Officers and their Lady friends were in attendance, and I think all enjoyed themselves; anyway they all wanted another dance. Col/O Harte suggested one at the Drill Hall, and we agreed to try it out, providing we could get the hall. We were able to hand over £10 to the Flower Show fund, much to their surprise.

So ended our first enterprise

.June 1943

Well the next thing to do was get the Drill Hall booked, and this proved to be no easy matter. We had, by the way decided to run this Dance in aid of the Prisoner of war fund. The Drill Hall, at this time, was not readily let out for dancing, as the Army and the Home Guard were in occupation, anyway after applying to the C/O I was asked to put this application in writing and it would be considered. This I did right away, on the 7th June. We awaited results. While waiting for this to come into being, it was decided to run another dance at the Nelson Hall. We had made up our minds to run one dance a month. The date was set for the 16th June 1943; the profit was to go to the St. John Ambulance Brigade, (if there was any). With this Dance we did not go to so much trouble, as the balance sheet will show. Very few tickets were sold before the day and we cut down on the amount sold at the door. In this way we learnt our lesson. The undesirables we kept out last time, managed to get in this time, and nearly ruined the evening. However things turned out all right. At the end of the evening we were able to hand our £5 profit to the St. Johns Ambulance Brigade. It was generally agreed upon not to run any more dances at the Nelson Hall, it would only have got the Fire Service a bad name and we did not want to spoil our chances for the Drill Hall.

At the end of June we began to give up hope of the Drill Hall Dance ever happening, so we began to get other ideas, one was to hold an open air Dance.

How it Started. The members of this Station had for the last two years run a small Flower Show, which they held in the garages at the bottom of our yard. This year, for some unknown reason, somebody (very unusual for Horsham) hit on the idea of having a larger show, the local Council were approached about the loan of the park, in which we are fortunately situated, this seemed to fit in very well with the Holidays at Home program, so naturally was granted. This is where the trouble started. About this time the Social Club Dance Committee, consisting of Fm. Nye F.m. Greest and myself found things getting rather awkward, as we could not get a decent hall for running dances. it was proposed that we run a dance in one of the local councillor's private gardens, in fact the thing be all arranged. Then we decided to run a Fete with the dance, the proceeds to go to The Prisoner of War Fund.. Well, the truth of the matter was that it grew into something far larger than the garden could possibly cope with. We were at our wits end, when we heard of the Flower Show idea. This gave us the idea of incorporating our Fete and Dance with their Show. After a lot of diplomatic wrangling it was agreed to, but we realised we would need a proper committee to run it, we called a special meeting for Sunday 4th July 1943. And the proposition was put to all and sundry. The out come was that the profit should be divided between the Prisoner of War Fund and the local Hospital.. At this time only the three of us knew how big this thing was going to be, if we had told them all our plans they would of said it was not possible. We let them think it was to be a Flower Show supported by a few side shows etc. really do believe that if everyone concerned had realised that we had already set a target for £1,000 profit, half of them would of died on the spot. We decided not to tell them until we had got ourselves well established. Then we broke the news gently, they took it well, considering. But some did discourage us. However we got round these after a struggle. And a committee was elected. Why it was decided to have a large Committee nobody knows, but that did not deter us. All sorts of ideas came along, some of them good, others out of the question. We had about six weeks to arrange everything. to begin. It seemed obvious that a typewriter was going to be essential but Horsham Fire Station did not posses such a thing, I was told that one of our part time fire women owned one, and when I asked her she was agreeable to lending it to us. I had never used one and tome was so short that it would be impossible to learn, so our stores and records clerk Mildred was dragged in to help us. Most of the work had to be done in the evenings. Around this time Crawley Fire Station was short of staff and we had to take it in turns to help them out, this often happened in the evening. It was a good job we had use of a car, in order to keep up with the work typewriter, correspondence, notes and Mildred all came to Crawley with us. But still the paper work got too much for us. Fire woman Bennett knew how to use a typewriter and said she was willing to help, this she did. A General Committee Meeting was held every Sunday morning and sometimes two or three Sub meetings during the week. We approached the local Cinemas and they agreed to put on a slide free of charge to advertise the Show and the local paper also helped. One of the shops gave us free advertising space for two weeks. And we delivered leaflets that were to be displayed on shop counters throughout the town. A prominent radio firm were engaged to drive around the town in their loudspeaker van to announce the forth-coming advent Horstmans Shop allowed us to display the goods given for the White Elephant stall, in their window. Erridge the Bakers displayed the Flower Show Cups and the draw prizes. Chart and Lawrence displayed the Miniature Railway Engine. Fireman Nye and myself canvassed all the shops in the town, begging donations, and Prizes. We also tried to sell advertising space in our programme in the hope of covering printing costs. I think the whole affair must of been one of the biggest scrounges Horsham ever came up against during the war. On July 7th we received a reply from the Drill Hall, our dance booking was granted for Saturday 31st July. We had waited so long that we had given up all hope, and devoted our time to the Fete’. But we could not let the opportunity pass us by now, besides any profit made would help with Fete and Flower Show funds. Mary Marchant was engaged once again and Messrs. Quicks agreed to lend us their microphone free of charge. Posters were printed and the town was flooded with them. We were lucky on the day as the hall had been decorated for a Civil Defence Social, which had been held the same week, this saved us a great deal of work. . Considering the small amount of work we had been able to put into it the dance was a great success. We made £60. Nuthurst Sub. Station (Mannings Heath) also ran a dance and Fete of their own making nearly £70. And Fireman Greest ran a dance at the village hall of his native home Broadbridge Heath and donated his profit of £7 6s 1d to the fund. In addition to our advertising and shop canvassing, we also sent out a letter of appeal, which helped to swell our coffers. Unfortunately there were no less than half a dozen other such appeals in the same month, for various other charities. As the big day got closer, so the problems got bigger. The Organiser had to go to London on a three-day course, and from then on his return started a spell of continuous duty. The Fire Station was turned upside down until it looked at one time like the fete would have to be cancelled. But we made the best job of it we could. On the morning of great day Fireman Nye was called to a meeting at Worthing and did not know when he would get back. Luckily he arrived at Horsham Fire Station in time for the opening. The weather wasn't all that good to us but once we got started everything went well.

I said things turned out all right, but we did not reach our target. It had proved very difficult to get the co-operation of everyone, if it had not been for efforts made by the part time Firemen we may not of done as well as we did. There were 1999 and 1 jobs to do on the morning of the show, with the organiser away and the assistant organiser busy on the Flower Show tent all day. Half the Station had been granted six hours special leave, naturally they wanted to spend it at home, the rest were on urgent station work, concerning the show. We did our best and things were more or less ready for the opening. Some of the stalls were never erected, and a few entries had to be refused for the baby show, of lack of time and space. Being the main cause. The miniature railway was not really successful, the track was not fixed correctly, and it had taken a week to build, then had to be re-laid. The building crew got busy on this and had done it in a few hours, however the track was nowhere near the length it should have been. Then only one pony turned up, we had expected a dozen, I had been notified of this during the morning but it allowed no time to find replacements. A lot of things went wrong like that, it was enough to turn one grey. At the closing down meeting, the organiser, to cover his slip ups, stated he had set the target at £1000, knowing they could not possibly attain this figure, but thought by this method he would get the best out of his committee. I could of Hung Slung and Quartered him on the spot, but this was Mr Nye’s way of doing things. The final figures for the show were read and votes of thanks given. So ended the Flower Show and Fete.

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FAREWELL PARTY / SOCIAL DANCE 16th OCTOBER 1944

On being informed of the departure of the Colour Scheme Personnel being fixed for the 16th October (the Colour Scheme being the personnel transferred to this part of the country from the North and Midlands, for the purpose of the ‘D’ Day preparations etc, most of them having been here since January). The Committee decided to hold a farewell party for those in our division. Being in the form of a Social / Dance. I approached the Column Officer with this proposition and it was received favourably. It seems that most divisions are doing the same thing. The Canteen manager came up with the idea that everyone should club together to provide a Super as well. This we did. Everyone donates a shilling and bringing food as well. This worked very well, apart from a nerve racking moment when we realised super would be later then planned as the potatoes were not done and it looked as if we would still be eating when the public turned up for the Dance. We need not of worried, it all turned out well .In fact it was about the best Social we had ever held with about 100 people in attendance. The hut was really too small.

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CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS PARTY. NOVEMBER 1944

In past years the Christmas Party had been getting later each year- last year it was held in April. We decided this year to hold it at the proper time, around Christmas. We also decided to make it bigger and better this time. The next thing was funds. Well we can usually scrounge around for these, in the past this has proved no difficulty, so we decided to run a couple of dances at the Black Horse Hotel and also try for the Drill Hall for another. The first two we had no difficulty in arranging, the first bringing in £15..4s..2d profit. The second was not so good, apparently the band we had on the first occasion was by all accounts lousy, also we slipped up on lack of advertisements, even so we made a profit of 14/- The dance at the Drill Hall we could not at first arrange, as the hall was not for hire, but after a little wrangling, was granted, but was too near Christmas and there too many other dances going on. Nether the less we showed a profit of £12.

By this time we had decided to call a meeting and elect three sub-committees, one for toys, one for entertainments, and the other for catering. We also had a new Coy/O and he was all for the Party with some big ideas and our committee on its own could not manage it all, and s with the flower show and fete we found that with more committees the more interest was shown. This was done and things got moving. We scrounged everything we could for prizes and ran several draws, these bought in quite a bit more money. Freddie Geest ran a whist drive, which made a profit; Freddie wanted this to be spent on saving stamps for the children. This got us onto the idea of giving each kiddie a 15/- certificate but over 100 children this would take some doing. In the end there was not enough cash and we had to cut this down to 5/- a child. It is hoped the public will give them every support.

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N.F.S. CHRISTMAS PARTY

30TH DECEMBER 1944

LIST OF CHILDREN INVITED.

HORSHAM FIRE STATION.

Wendy Belton Jene Gardener Mary Tyrell David Belton Master T. Inkpen Marion Penfold John Bloome Miss G. Burrage Georgina Penfold Dorothy Gravette Paul Hyde Pauline Penfold Shirley Peskett June Hyde Janet Penfold Pamela Peskett Micheal Sampson Susan Penfold Peter Peskett Master B. Cowles Eric Baker Marion Nelson Master C. Cowles Brian Baker Jean Nelson Freddie Mills Ann Linfield Brian Osley Geoffrey Killick Audrey Parfitt Richard Tyler Angela Jones Baby Tyler Mollie Priston L.Lindfield Master J. Holmwood John Priston Brenda Laker Miss E. Holmwood Patricia Dodd Avis Haymen Miss M.Holmwood Tony Mathews

Jean Haymen Richard More Edna Mathews Yvonne Sewell Denis More Sandra Mathews John Hyde Anthony Woods Rhoswen Redford

Micheal Hyde Mavis Williamson Thelma Goring Ann Jarvis Peter Walker Tony Goring William Gates Ann Bull Margaret Goring

Peggy Brooks George Hemsley Denzil Perkins Muriel Holloway Pat Dent Pam Perkins Shirley Greest Master King. Colin Perkins

John Langridge Brenda Booker Sylvia Blake Janet Booker John Sampson Ivy Richardson Doris Hedger Peter Richardson

Master Wales David Richardson Drina Barrett Miss Wales senr Lily Richardson Terrance Barrett Miss Wales junr Shiela Hall Jennifer Barrett

Margaret Birchell Coral Pauline Weller Marion Birchell Cyril Napper Hall Rodney Parker Baby Birchell Stella Giacomelli Micheal Ludbrook

Patricia Frisby Fred Head Joyce Head Colin Baker Marion Thorpe Nita Clarke Ronnie Clarke Donald Bateman John Sylvester Robert Barden

Derek Birchell Mary Woolgar Corralie Hamilton Thomas r. Hamilton Stewart Webb Charles Redford

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A.F.S. London Blitz

Firemen had volunteered for the A.F.S. from all walks of life. Many of them before the war had started. But a lot more afterwards. It should be realised that none of them had experienced the danger heat and exhaustion of a wartime blitz.

In September 1940 the German air force and the fire brigade began a battle.

Huge numbers of fire engines raced to London during a bad raid, including those from Horsham and became part of the 25,000 firemen that fought the fires of the London blitz.

Water was their main weapon, and it was taken from anywhere.

From the 7th of September the Luftwaffe raided London day and night at first the attack was centred on the Docks and this is where the Horsham men were sent. The bombing did not subside until the 5th October when most of the raids took place at night. The attack was withdrawn on the 8th December giving the fire service a welcome break.

On the 29th December 1940 at about 6-p.m. 100,000 firebombs were dropped on London by the Luftwaffe

At the height of the battle men worked ten to fifteen hours at a time. Soaked to the skin within minutes of starting work, the wet cloths getting heavier and colder as the night went on. Fires were fought in the open, at petrol stations, timber yards warehouses and chemical works. Bombs were still falling all around, the flames making a beacon for the enemy bombers to aim at. burning walls crumbled and fell, sometimes without warning. And splinters from the shells flew constantly through the streets. Men faced the fear and heat with good humour, common sense and determination. Young messenger boys rode their motorcycles through dark crater filled streets and over miles of hose. To liaison between fires and control centres. Woman telephonist faced the horrors of war and stuck to their posts in order to get messages through. The woman’s Auxiliary Fire Service drove petrol lorries, through blizzards of sparks. They also bought canteen lorries into the inferno

On the 10th-11th may 1941 the Luftwaffe struck again hundreds of high explosives fell on the East End of London, as did thousands of incendiary bombs. Resulting in thousands of deaths and horrendous damage.

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By Ian Richardson

My father, Ron Richardson, wrote the following reminiscences about his father in the weeks just before he died from a brain tumour. It must have been a great effort for him to write them, and in the original document one can see his handwriting deteriorate as the tumour robbed him of more and more muscle and mental control. As a result I have found it necessary to guess at one or two words, and to add one or two explanations. These are shown in square brackets – [thus] – everything else is Dad’s. Although he struggled to finish them – and could probably have written more if he had been given more time – I am sure he gained a lot of satisfaction from having made sure that they did not die with him. It is clear from his last sentence, which was almost literally his dying wish, that he wanted other people to be able to read his memories about an era the every-day details of which are almost impossible to imagine today. I take all responsibility for any errors in the transcription of the notes, and my mother, Joyce Richardson and I are proud to have them made available so that the lives of ordinary-yet-extraordinary people may be remembered.

In 1914, Frank Richardson, then a young married man with a 4-year old daughter, joined Horsham U.D.C.’s Volunteer Fire Brigade; a decision to which I may possibly, if not probably, owe my existence. I did not come onto the scene until June 7th, 1917, but by that time very few fit young men were spared the demands of the butchers at the Western Front. Women largely filled the gaps left by the men, but a Volunteer Fireman must have been very hard to replace in that way.

First and above all, the job required an absolute commitment to abandon the immediate task at a moment’s notice, day or night, rain or shine, 365 days of the year, without knowing if their absence was for an hour or (on occasion) 3 days.

Employers seem to have been sympathetic over this, but a woman with a husband, and perhaps children, was in a very different case.

At that time Horsham was a small, quiet town, surrounded by farmland and a number of large landowner’s estates.

The rural area was “truly rural”. Only in the early 1930s was a water main laying scheme undertaken, and gas and electricity were almost unknown for the cottagers and farmers.

As a result any attention to animals during the hours of darkness was by lantern-light among straw bedding, and the dangers are all too obvious, and fire fighting as I recall usually meant a farm fire.

In those days, too, animals (including the horses which provided most of the muscle power for farm machinery) had to be fed through the winter. Hay was grown for this purpose, and had to be cut, spread out to dry (with turning to speed the process), carted in to be built up in stacks (or ricks) like small houses with sloping roofs and tarpaulins to keep rain out. Everyone hoped for a fine spell for the hay making, and everyone worked hard from dawn to dusk to get the hay dried and stacked without intermediate wettings, which reduced its value, either for sale or as foodstuff.

On occasion a desperate farmer might be tempted to stack his hay before it was truly dry. A damp patch might begin to ferment and heat up (as lawn mowings quickly do). Tightly compressed and excluded from air the heat would intensify to smouldering point and eventually begin to burn.

The cry of “Fire!” would be raised and every pair of hands available would be pressed into service to save what could be saved. Water in summertime might be low and distant. A human chain passing buckets from hand to hand might be formed. Others would try to drag away unburnt material to safe areas; but the heat would be raising a pillar of sparks and burning material to drift and fall and start further fires, possibly in nearby barns, stables, cowsheds, etc., and farmers often lost stock in this way. Such fires were all too frequent.

The Brigade members would be alerted to an alarm by a large bell on a massive beam above the roof of the Fire Station.

In 1919 my father and mother moved into the rooms above the station and became responsible for raising the alarm at all times. Two bell-ropes ran down from the beam into the ground floor of the building and if she were alone my mother would face the task or ringing, unless a passer-by came to give a hand – not too difficult (in daytime) when the chance was only too welcome to many!

At night men were roused by electric bells in their homes. A leap out of bed, hurried dressing, and a mad dash - in almost every case on a pedal cycle - to the Station, to don brass helmet, belt with axe, wrench and lifeline, tunic and boots. But not before taking a numbered brass disc from its hook by his uniform, and re-hanging it on one of a vertical row of hooks screwed into a board on the wall. This would accommodate 10 discs before a white line was reached, thus qualifying the 10 men lucky enough to form the crew. The numbers would be listed and some small payment was made for the service. Unlucky men would be free to return home.

The telephone was not the universal home furnishing of today, and kiosks were not numerous in the town. As a supplement a number (12-15?) of street alarm boxes were dotted around the town. These cast-iron pillars were topped with glass-fronted boxes. “Break glass, turn the handle, and wait for the Brigade” read the notice in the box, and the firemen would get the details of the fire from some poor wretch who had run frantically from his home to call them.

In the Station, each call-box handle turned would trigger its individually labelled “tell-tale”, a round glass plate, normally blanked out, but revealed by shutters opening like those in a camera lens. “Bishopric”, “St. Leonards Rd”, “New Street” etc. they would announce, and every Friday morning without fail my father would visit every one in a rigid order (to avoid confusion), unlock the box and turn the handle for half a minute or so, to ensure a satisfactory response, checked by my mother at home. (I should say here that these call boxes would also trigger a bell in the firemen’s homes (without indicating location), but I believe they were only switched on to do so at night.)

The Fire Station was a wood block floored area, fronted by wooden doors sliding and folding sideways from the middle for access and exit. Behind this area was a stone-flagged area used by my father to hose and scrub clean the 40(?)-Foot lengths of hose (canvas) after use. A sloping glass roof above featured a separately framed section, which could be allowed to slide down to provide an opening. Each wet hose had a piece of chain around its middle, and was hauled on a rope and pulley to hang from a massive “scaffold” to dry, after which it would be lowered, carefully rolled and put away for its next outing. (The hose-drying scaffold from the old Station can still be seen in Amberley Chalk Pits Museum.) This washroom also provided a deep white sink, an old-fashioned “copper” boiler, and mangle for my mother’s washing days. The kitchen of our rooms looked out over this glass roof and over the back gardens of a terrace of houses. One memorable day my sister was talking through the open window to her friend in a garden below, while I idly leant on a piece of string strung across the frame (for drying small pieces of laundry). The windowsill must have been very low; because when the string broke nothing stopped my weight going over the sill and through the glass to the stone slabs below. What my mother expected to find when she reached me I never knew, but apart from a tiny scar on my knee, which I think I got then, I suffered no ill effects. (I believe the broken glass was replaced with a sheet of corrugated iron in due course.) I was then about 3-4 years old.

Now for the fire-fighting equipment. At the back of the Station, dim and neglected, stood an old manual fire engine. Originally horse-drawn, its shafts were hinged to fold back along its sides for the crew to hold and pump up and down alternately. What sort of jet they could produce, or for how long, I shudder to imagine. I have a faint memory of horses being put to it, but I suspect this was a stunt to participate in the Cricket Week Carnival, which was the highlight of the year in those days.

Old and forgotten as it was it had the driver’s seat with leather cushions, iron rail around, and brake lever high above the old box hose-locker, on its great iron-tyred wagon-wheels – all any boy could wish for to sit in and lash his team beyond the reach of a screaming Red Indian horde in the dust behind him. (I delight in having one of its old side-lights illuminating our porch to this day, and sometimes spilling spots of century-old candle-grease on the floor.)

Beside the old “manual” stood the “modern” pump (a photograph of which – with my father in attendance in action – I am fortunate enough to possess).

In front of it, with a gigantic drawbar poised for dropping onto its towing hook, stood my father’s pride and joy. Built in 1908 as a 44-horse-power Mercedes-Benz touring car, its chassis now carried a voluminous wooden locker for the storage of hose and spades, hay-knives, etc. etc., since once away from home the machine and men must be entirely self-dependent. I remember my father attending one fire which lasted for 3 days (and nights of course!) and saying that when he got his turn at the farmer’s rabbit-stew, “there was only heads in it!”

The “Merc” ran on solid rubber tyres. There was minimal protection for the driver, almost invariably my father. Round an enormous steering wheel ran a corrugated brass circlet with an “Advance and Retard” marking on a pointer vaguely connected in my mind with something called “ignition”. The cutaway side of the driver’s seat enabled him to put out his right hand to two long brass levers, one engaging the handbrake, the other operating gear changes through a solid-looking “gate”. A brass tube led from a rubber bulb to a warning klaxon hooter, with even sharper warning provided by a large brass bell. From an on-board generator, acetylene gas was fed into brass headlamps whose lenses must have been 9-10 inches across. The gas was produced by water dripping onto lumps of calcium carbide. It made a most unpleasant smell, but was popular since it gave a brilliant white light, and on the unlit narrow and winding country lanes of those times must have been a blessing to the driver.

I believe my father learnt to drive on a De-Dion Bouton van used by a local furnishing company he worked for, and it may have been in this service that he acquired his encyclopaedic knowledge of the rural area around the town, probably some 10-15 miles radius from the Station, and it was necessary to know not only the road to the fire, but the location of the farm which might be set back from the road; and with the weight of the steam pump, 10 men clinging for dear life to seats or the hose-locker, and the hose load itself, to “back up” from an over-shot turning, or a “3-point turn around” would have been unthinkable.

The “steamer”, as it was always called, had a firebox slung under the boiler between the iron-tyred wheels. This was always cleaned out and carefully re-laid immediately the machine returned to its standing position ready for “next time”. A fan in (or on) the chimney provided a forced draught to the fire for rapid heating, but much cunning and experience went into the decision whether to light-up before leaving the Station or at some point en route – the ideal solution finding the correct working pressure on arrival without waste of fuel or steam while merely covering distance.

The fuel was always Welsh steam coal. There were two cupboards under the stairs leading up to our flat; a “stand-up” one where the ordinary coal for our kitchen stove was stored, and one for the dwarves, where the sacred Welsh steam coal was to await its dedicated use in the fire service. But my mother was only human, and I was only too ready to fill a scuttle in the Holy of Holies if the other store ran low. (Dad was never deceived.)

Once arrived at the fire the steamer would have to be coerced into a working position by the lake, stream, pond, well or other water supply. This might involve making a ramp to a level position or hardening up a surface for it. A length of reinforced hose ending in a brass cylinder with rows of holes ("the strainer") went into the water (in a small pit to ensure its being totally submerged, having first been strapped into a heavy wicker basket as a coarser strainer.

The hoses were then screwed onto the delivery [pipe] and further lengths were run out and joined up until the fire could be attacked.

It can be imagined what the hoses looked like after lying for hours across wet clay, farmyards and lakes of sooty water. All next day the Station would reek of smoke, soot, dung and unnameable odours in a mixture which I privately adored and found indescribably exciting. My father would set to work unloading, unrolling and scrubbing the filthy canvas before putting it up to dry. He would then scrub the Station clean of the muck fallen off the hose, wheels, boots and uniforms of the men.

The photograph of the steamer gives a fair idea of the amount of brass work, which went into it. The effect on this of the smoke, heat, the elements and sweaty hands should have been heart-breaking, yet my father would get out his Brasso and cleaning rags, and patiently restore all to glittering brightness.

Another inhabitant of the Station was the "Hose Truck". This was a large box on (iron-tyred) wheels with a single central T-shaft at the rear obviously intended to be pushed by running men to the fire. It was topped by a ladder, which could be set against the side of a house and winched up to its upper floors or roof. A large iron disc on each side of the ladder top would have eased its progress over irregularities. Finally, once erected, a canvas chute could be dropped from a frame at the top, the lower edge was drawn forward clear of the ladder itself and a [survivor] dragged from the burning [structure] slid down it.

My impression is that it was exercised on isolated "drill nights" (alternate Tuesday evenings) possibly for devilment by the lighter minds (or initiation of new members?).

The usual drill was to drive to the bottom of Denne Road, where it crosses the Arun, and is itself crossed by a railway bridge. There the "suction tube" could be easily dropped into the river on one side of the road and the water pumped back into it on the other side.

However, there was one glorious hour of fame for me and (I think) my brother Roy.

Some enterprising salesman had interested the Brigade in another escape device. A metal drum could be fastened to a building. In it a long cable passed through rollers and a reduction gear. A waist belt at each end supported a body, the weight of which descending would gently draw up the other end, and the process could then be repeated for a second victim.

A demonstration was arranged and I duly went down from the Station roof on it! Tributes to my daring amounted to 2d! [Tuppence in pre-decimal money!] I never heard any comments from my mother on the subject! Nor am I aware that the device was ever purchased.

My father would sometimes admit a visitor to the Station, often inviting them to start the "Merc" (with a starting-handle, of course). He would warn them not to grip the handle between thumb and fingers (the natural grip) as a backfire could break a wrist in that position.

The Mercedes engine was very high compression, actually too high for any average man to swing over, and my father was a smallish man. The designers had therefore included some sort of relief valve, which could be opened for the initial swing and closed at the critical moment.

The visitor having failed to turn the engine over, Dad would unobtrusively pull out the tap, give a final heave, at the same time kicking in the tap (still unseen) and the engine would start.

The living quarters above the Station were very poor. A flat lead roof (perforated for bell ropes) invited leaks, and there were many. Only the front rooms had electricity, and the main living room, heated by a coal-fired range, had one tiny window so high in the wall that the light had to be switched on all the time; the only other light creeping in through a window in the wall of the front bedroom ("borrowed light").

In 1928 a new purpose-built Station was opened in Horsham (formerly "Hurst") Park and we gladly moved there. My father was delighted to have a garden at last.

The occupation of the Station had always meant that Mum or Dad must always be at home, and could never go out together. In the Park they could occasionally slip out together after dark, leaving us [children] with a football referee's whistle to blow if the phone should ring, although we were not expected to take the call. They perforce had to stay within earshot!

Although we had always had the phone it was NEVER used for an outgoing call (which might block an incoming one), and when I left school and started work I had never spoken on a telephone!

The new Station had a recreation room for the men, but they obviously had little occasion to use it. The delight of sliding down the pole from it soon palled for me, but my brothers became good table-tennis players.

At one time after the move some of the Parish Councils around the town decided not to charge their ratepayers a Fire Brigade rate. This resulted in a huge map almost covering one wall, with the penny-pinching portions suitably coloured, and calls from those areas could not be accepted!

In 1939 the outbreak of war put the Brigade on a permanent paid basis and the volunteer era ended.

The fire-bell had been super ceded by a siren for alarms when we moved to the Park, and this now was used for Air Raid "Alerts" and "All-Clears".

The Brigade was sent to London when the fire raid on the docks was at its heights, and my brother Jack was with them on that occasion.

Later my father went with them to Portsmouth, where another blitz was raging. In the confusion he lost contact with the group to which he had been assigned, and heard later that they had never been seen again. He himself came home clutching the cast-iron lion, which had formed part of the Royal Arms on the shop-front of Gieves, the tailor whose uniforms were de rigueur for all aspiring officers. This treasure stands outside our backdoor to this day.

Dad was not the man to welcome the conversion of the old spirit of camaraderie among independent deeply experienced firemen to "militarised" "Watches", "Station Officers", "Leading Firemen", etc, and I can vividly picture his mood on being sent for a week's course at a Training Camp.

A clash was inevitable, and came when he was brusquely informed that he was "improperly dressed" and badges were not allowed to be worn with his uniform. He replied that there was an identical one being worn by another man in the Camp, and until [that one] was removed, his would stay on. This brought an immediate promise to discipline the other offender on being given details. "It's the Camp Commandant", said Dad. "You're looking at the Fire Brigade Long Service Medal!" The matter was dropped then and there!

Just before his retirement he was watching a selected team of young (now peace-time) firemen practising for a hose-running competition at some Sports Day event, and he ventured to offer advice. The offended man threw down his hose and challenged dad to do better; which the old man quietly did, reducing the team's time for the drill by significant seconds, and was bitterly told "you're wearing shoes and I'm wearing boots". I am not aware that Dad made the obvious point of his years versus the boots, but there was a suggestion that he should be included in the competition team!

Before the wartime "Wellies" the volunteer's leather boots had always been made to measure for each man by Russells (at the sign of the Golden Boot) in West Street. Dad regularly applied a mysterious coat of "Leather Seal" to his boots to soften the leather and defy water penetration. I never knew its formula. I was once stupid enough to drop a tennis ball into one of his boots standing ready for action at the foot of the stairs. A call came, he stamped on his boot as far as he could and then endured precious wasted seconds in the violent contortions required to escape its craftsman-fitted embrace. I never repeated the offence!

I have referred to the 24-hour nature of the volunteer days, when I had never enjoyed the company of both Mum and Dad on an outing of any kind, and it was a doubly red-letter day when they were both present at my wedding in 1941. Returning from [the Church at] Colgate to the Station to collect my suitcase before catching our honeymoon train it occurred to me that the house key was still in Dad's pocket back at the reception! Fortunately one of the Duty Watch was able to obtain entry through a bathroom window, and we were cheered off by an "honour guard".

During the war I found myself one of a party in Avon mouth Docks [near Bristol] ostensibly receiving training in the use of a fire pump. The instructor was demonstrating the "snap-together" hose connections, which had long replaced the old "screw-together" type. "This", he explained, "is the male end. It pushes into this female end, and the lengths are then said to be married." A languid voice from the back floated forward and in a spirit of total disinterest asked "Are we here for fire-training or just **** sex education?"

With breathing apparatus, walkie-talkies, heat-seeking cameras in helicopters, today's fire crews obtain superb results. Perhaps, somewhere, someone of them may become thoughtful on reading what the oldies achieved in days gone by.

That is all my Father had time to write before the brain tumour overwhelmed him. Although the purpose of this book is to record the history of the Horsham Fire Brigade, the following brief notes on some of the people mentioned may be of interest, especially to any readers who grew up in, or knew, Horsham in those days. The “I” in them refers to me, not my father!

“My sister” was Eva Richardson, the oldest of Frank’s children. She eventually married Alf Street, and when I was growing up Auntie Eva and Uncle Alf lived on Madeira Avenue (?) in Horsham and worked at a bakery called, from memory, Dendy-Napper.

“My brother Roy” was the youngest. He was killed in an army accident in the closing days of WW2 in Europe. His widow, Jean, later married “my brother Jack” and when I was growing up auntie Jean and Uncle Jack, together with my cousin Colin, lived on Stanley Street in Horsham in a house whose back garden was just at the end of the house at 83 New Street in which Frank Richardson and “Mum” (my grandmother) lived. It was just across the street from a pub called, I think, the Black Horse. I believe they moved to New Street after Frank retired from the Fire Department. After Gran died, Frank moved to a bungalow in Winterton Court, and soon after that large portions of New Street, including #83, were redeveloped. Jean and Jack still live in Horsham.

My father – full name Frank Ronald Albert Richardson but always known as Ron – married my mother Joyce (nee Hurd) in Colgate in 1941 as described in the later part of his memoirs. There is a curious tie-in to the Robert Blake memories. In those notes he mentions a raid on Colgate in September 1940 in which three firemen, the district nurse, and a first aid worked were killed. My mother was living with her parents in Colgate at that time. Her father – Albert J. Hurd – who served in the Grenadier Guards Band in the trenches of the Western Front in WW1 – responded to the village hall at the beginning of the raid together with the District Nurse and the first aid worker, whose name, my mother vividly remembers, was Heather Barnes. (I think Grandpa Hurd was an Air Raid Warden or had some similar duty.) At some point the District Nurse went back to her house to get more supplies, and was there when the bomb fell on the house. Hearing the explosion, Grandpa and Heather Barnes went to see what had happened. They found the District Nurse on the edge of the crater, clearly very badly injured if not already dead. They carried her back to the village hall for care. Grandpa was just going out of the hall again, and was standing in the porch when the direct hit on the hall was taken. This not only ended any hope of saving the Nurse, but mortally wounded Heather Barnes. The slight additional protection of the porch structure probably saved Grandpa’s life, but he couldn’t hear anything. After the immediate needs of the dead and dying had been taken care of, Grandpa eventually sought first aid himself, when it was found that both his ears were totally packed with compacted dust, and once that debris was cleaned out, his hearing was restored!

THE COLEGATE BOMB

I am afraid I cannot remember the time at which the air raid siren sounded

on that September evening in 1940. It was over 60 years ago!

When we heard the planes and the bombs whistling down (there were no loud

explosions - they were incendiary bombs) my father, the Air Raid Warden went

out to investigate. My part was to stay by the phone to deal with any

messages (there weren't any). He was gone some while and eventually returned

and told us everything was dealt with and that he was going to the village

to report to Mrs. Barnes. Mrs. Barnes was available by phone throughout the

day (and night) as she was Chief Warden, but my father dealt with the active

side of things.

After he left we heard another wave of planes and then the loud explosions

of the H.E. bombs. We knew they were not very far off, but did not know

exactly where.

When he made his report, Dad learned that there had been other incendiaries

but all were dealt with. It appeared that they had been dropped in various

places more or less encircling the village. He then went down to the village

hall, which was the First Aid Post. This was manned by nurse Hocken, the

district nurse who lived next door to the village hall, Heather Barnes, Mrs

Barnes' 20 year old daughter and Nanny White who had been Nanny to the

Barnes children and had stayed on as house-keeper when they grew up.

Nurse Hocken left the hall to collect some equipment from her house and then

the first bomb fell. Dad rushed out of the hall, followed by Heather.

Nurse's house was completely demolished. They searched for her and found her

when a streak of moonlight picked out her white apron. She was lying on the

sloping side of the crater which had been her home. They carried her into

the village hall, but she was barely alive. Miss White went to the kitchen

at the opposite end of the hall, and my father was leaving by the main

entrance, which was at the side of the hall, to go to the Barnes' house to

phone for an ambulance. It was as he stepped into the porch that the second

bomb fell on the hall, killing the nurse and injuring Heather so badly that

she died in hospital a few hours later. Most of the porch collapsed on top

of my father, possibly saving his life as it did offer some protection from

the much heavier structure of the main building.

I am not sure whether it was before or after he extricated himself that the

third bomb fell by the church wall which killed the three young men who were

returning from extinguishing fires started by incendiaries in another part

of the forest.

Another bomb fell behind the Post Office, damaging the building, and one

fell behind Mrs. Baldwin's cottage but this did not explode until the next

day.

Eventually my father managed to get home, but he obviously needed medical

attention. He suffered severe bruising and had a nasty injury in his leg. In

those days men wore suspenders to keep their socks up and some part of the

porch falling on him had driven the metal par of the suspender into his leg.

He was also completely deaf.

He said that when he left the village all the casualties had been taken away

by the first aid and rescue workers who had come from Horsham but that one

or two of them were waiting a while in case anyone else needed their help,

so I went to see if one of them might still be there and Mrs. Rowe, who had

come to our house (with 8 year old Alan) from her bungalow in the forest

when the raid began came with me.

The road from our house to the Green Dragon was slightly uphill and then

descended more steeply down to the church, and I will never forget the

feeling of awe as I walked down the hill in the darkness - the silence and

stillness that hung over the village seemed palpable. Earlier there had been

noise and destruction - people moving about - voices raised. But now it

seemed that even nature was holding its breath - not a leaf on the trees,

not a blade of grass moved. And in the silent houses, behind the closed

doors and broken, blacked-out windows there were grieving families.

Briefly, in the distance, I heard the faint drone of a plane. Friend or foe?

Oddly, the sound seemed more melancholy than menacing. Then I trod on broken

glass.

We found a first-aider near the remains of the village hall and he came back

to the house with us and saw my father and arranged to have him taken to

hospital.

Mrs. Rowe was still with us and one or two others as well, but I cannot

remember who - there had been a fair amount of coming and going. My mother

decided to make everyone a cup of coffee, but when we tried to pour it we

found that the percolator was completely clogged up. Working in haste in a

dimly lit kitchen she had filled it with cocoa instead of coffee! We

hurriedly made a pot of tea!

My father was brought home from hospital the following day. Fortunately his

hearing was not permanently damaged - his ears had completely filled with

dust.

When Ron and I were married in Colgate church the following June (on the

hottest June day for over 80 years) the windows of the church were still

boarded up except for one near the alter on the south side of the chancel

and when we moved up to the alter we were standing I a shaft on brilliant

sunlight.

My bouquet of pink carnations was given to Mrs. Barnes to place on Heather's

grave.

At the funeral of my brother-in-laws wife in December 2002, I met Esther

Dendy the sister of Jack Constable who was one of the young men killed in

the raid.

Written by Mrs JOYCE RICHARDSON

THE END

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