Re: Questions
Arthur Pay (arthur@ARTHURPAY.DEMON.CO.UK)
Wed, 19 Nov 1997 18:23:34 +0100
On Wed 19 Nov, Wilson Stuart School wrote:
> Sometime ago some students researching world war two asked some questions
>
> Your generous replies have generated more
Dear Wilson Stuart School,
You did not address your questions regarding firewatching to me, personally
but I did have some experience of firewatching during the War which may be
of help to your researches.
Commercial Premises
Employers were required to make provision for people to be present on their
premises to deal with small emergency fires to stop small outbreaks from
becoming conflagrations, and payments were made to employees to stay
overnight on the premises. Duties mainly consisted of being fully clothed
and ready for emergencies, whilst trying to sleep on temporary beds and
drinking tea.
The incendiary bombs which I came in contact with, were aluminium tubes
about 15" long, and two or three inches in diameter with fins at one end so
they landed the rightway up to detonate and ignite. They were filled with
Thermite, which is a mixture of powdered aluminium and iron oxide which
burns at a very high temperature and quickly sets fire to anything near it.
Fire parties were issued with buckets of water and stirrup pumps, which were
like large bicycle pumps with which to squirt water at incipient fires. One
man would stand at the bucket and pump like mad, whilst another, at the
other end of a thirty foot hose would lie close to the floor, in order not
to breathe smoke, and spray the fire and surroundings with water. It was
important not to use a jet of water, which caused the thermite to explode
like a burning chip pan.
Anyway that was the theory.
My own experience was whilst on duty near the Ford Plant at Dagenham when a
shower of these things landed on some heaps of coal and started to ignite
them, and my colleague and I, clambered over the heaps of coal, kicking them
of the heap with our boots, or shoving them off with our tin helmets, until
an irate fireman came along and said. "thats my job". We were a bit stupid,
anyway, because the Germans used to put a little knob of high explosive in
an iron capsule in the bomb to discourage people from tackling them
Domestic Premises
Street parties were organised, by rota, and everyone took turns at a two
hour stint to keep awake and fully clothed in the street, and knock up the
next watcher at the end of his period. I remember on the night that they
burned down the city of London, on 29th December 1940, and it was almost
like daylight, because of the fires illuminating the sky, and jerry dropping
marker flares, and an Air Raid Warden choked me off for lighting a
cigarette. The local alert was made by banging together dustbin lids.
I don't know any of the people I fire watched with, they are probably all
dead. The name of my colleague at Dagenham was Arthur Cann, who wanted me
to teach him Algebra in a week, for his call up interview the following
week.
It was all so tragic and so stupid that it hardly bears thinking about
--
Arthur Pay.