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Joseph Milner (firefighter) - Wikipedia
Joe Milner was born in Manchester, England in October, 1922. After joining the Army in 1938, he later served in the war as a jungle fighter in Burma (now Myanmar) in the famous unit the "chindits". Since they were behind enemy lines they depended on parachute dropped supplies- and couldn't bury their KIA's. After the war he joined a unit that went back and recovered them.
In 1946 he joined the National Fire Service where he subsequently returned to Manchester. In 1951 he "transferred" in the British Empire to become a Station Officer in Hong Kong, With a population of about two million, the Hong Kong Brigade had twelve stations, a couple of fire boats and about 490 men. By 1958 he was a Divisional Officer and given the task of developing a modern fire department- fire prevention laws, training facilities, new equipment and stations, EMS, and improved technology. in 1965 he was appointed Director of the Hong Kong Fire Services Department by the Governor. While chief there he investigated the use of robots and thermal imaging devices- an idea he got from the US Army use of infra-red gun sights in Vietnam.
With his wife in declining health, he returned to England and became Chief Officer of the London Fire Brigade from 1970 to 1975. Times were tough then. The City was broke, and over several years building fires were up 80% and MFA's 300%. In Hong Kong he had only to deal with the Governor. Now he had to deal with and answer to the Greater London Council, its' Fire Brigade Committee, the Controller of Operational Services, the Fire Brigades' Union, the National Association of Fire Officers, and several other non-uniformed unions. He passed away in 2007.
Today the Hong Kong Fire Services has 11,476 members in 84 stations, 12 fire boat stations and 42 ambulance depots. In 2024 they answered 37,828 fire calls and 39,320 special service calls. The population is now around seven and a half million people.