大象传媒

Kenneth Lewis, my grandfather, served in the Auxiliary Fire Service in London between 1941 and 1945 as he was deemed physically unit to enlist in the forces. Kenneth told me about several incidents that had stuck in his mind.

He remembered going to a house after a bomb explosion and finding a family with children sitting under the stairs covered in dust from the explosion and dead from shell shock. He said that it was very distressing as none of them had any physical injury. He also told me about walking up stairs in a building that had been bombed to find a women lying dead in her bath covered in dust and rubble in the remains of her bathroom. Kenneth said that he often came across serving military personnel during his work who said that it was far more terrifying to be caught in a bombing raid in London than to be involved in active combat. Kenneth told me about a Army Major whom he encountered after a bomb raid who looked like a glittering porcupine as he was covered in tiny shards of glass. The man was running about screaming in pain.

Kenneth said that there was often competition between the police and the fre service to see who would reach the scene of a bombing first. He remembered attending an incident at a department store which had been evacuated after a bomb explosion. He saw policeman stuffing bottles of alcohol into their trousers and pockets. He said that some in the Fire Service used to do the same thing - they used to conceal contraband in the fire hoses etc.

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