Heroes With Grimy Faces - London Fire Brigade WWII

[mack]

Winston Churchill called the heroic British firefighters in London, Liverpool and other English cities "heroes with grimy faces" for their courage during their war years.  They played a major role fighting fires and protecting citizens during the Blitz bombing campaigns and the U2 rocket attacks. The Blitz involved 57 straight nights of bombings.  Single nights often resulted in thousands of fires and countless building collapses for departments to handle.  Fires were often fought and rescues were while attacks were in progress.  14000 civilians were killed during these attacks and the British fire brigades lost 1051 firefighters.

WWII The Blitz - Scenes From London During The Blitz 1940/41
1940 Bombing London
Liverpool at War, 1941

http://firehistory.weebly.com/firefighting-during-the-blitz-in-london.html
http://www.wwiifire.co.uk/History.htm
http://www.liverpoolblitz70.co.uk/tag/world-war-ii/



http://National Firefighters Memorial - London
[url=http://s9.postimage.org/b1whpennf/National_Firefighters_Memorial_Cannon_Street_London.jpg]

 

[grumpy grizzly]

Wasn't the Beatles Paul McCartney's father a fire-fighter during WW II?

 

[mack]

Grump - you are right.  Jim McCartney, Paul's father, volunteered in the AFS in Liverpool, a hard-hit bombed city, during WWII.

 

[BritishAndy]

Hi Guys,
Liverpool is my home city and although the May Blitz happened LONG before I was born, its still well documented and remembered by many in this city.
Liverpool was one of several cities targeted by the Germans, our proximity to the docks and the vast number of warehouses and factories and of course shipping made us vunerable.

The government at the time wanted to hide the amount of damage the Germans had inflicted on the city, so news reports were kept low key. Overall, some 4000 people were killed and this includes one terrible incident when a high explosive bomb directly hit a school in which a large number of civilians were taking shelter in a basement, 166 died.

There is a really good book which details a lot about the Blitz, plus other stories from Liverpool Fire Brigade.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Liverpools-Finest-Heroes-Brigade-History/dp/190526674X

Coincidentally, with talk of Paul McCartney and The Beatles, the fire station which is mentioned in the famous song 'Penny Lane' survived the Blitz and continues to be an operational station today! It is Allerton Fire Station, located on Mather Avenue. 

 

[mack]

Thanks British Andy -

Liverpool's Allertown Fire Station from Beatle's "Penny Lane"-


http://www.merseyfire.gov.uk/aspx/pages/history/history.aspx