大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Kevin Morrison of Glasgow Caledonian University.

This Stirrup Pump was found in a Glasgow Market, the Barras in the 1990's. Stirrup Pumps were used by Fire Guards to put out Incendiary bombs dropped by enemy planes to cause fires and disruption (otherwise known as 'Firebomb Fritz'.

On the night of Sunday 29 December 1940 the City of London was devastated by incendiary bombs. Offices and buildings had been locked up over the weekend and were left unattended. This made it more difficult for the fire and rescue services.

As a result a fire watchers' scheme began in January 1941. It was made compulsory to have person(s) on guard in buildings twenty-four hours (in 鈥減rescribed areas鈥�), to put out incendiary bombss and to call for help. This proved difficult for many establishments to staff. This lead the Government to implement a compulsory scheme of fire watching.

Fire watching teams were originally called street fire parties they adopted their official title of Fire Guards in August 1941. Men and women between the ages of 16-30 and 20-45 respectively were likely to be called up for fire duty. Volunteers were encouraged from men up to 70 and women to the age of 60.

Fire watching was a tedious job, watching business premises and factories was unpopular. Fire Guards undertaking the latter were likely to spend whole nights fire watching. Street watchers differed in the sense that nightly duties were shorter. Workers would often have to watch in the early hours of the morning return home and then get up to undertake a long shift in a war factory, starting at 6 a.m.

The Need for the Fire Guard

鈥楤ritain鈥檚 Fire Guard has been formed as an essential factor in the defence of this country against the attempts of the enemy to destroy its industries and to win the war by fire. Fire bomb raids are a threat to the very life of the nation. As is well known a very small number of bomber aeroplanes can shower many thousands of small incendiary bombs over a town in the space of a few minutes; and these, if left alone, will start more fires than could possibly be put out either by the National Fire Service or by the efforts of unauthorised and untrained individuals, however well meaning they may be. This is why it becomes the duty of all able bodies men and women to give whatever service they can in the part-time army of millions of citizens trained to deal with fire bombs promptly whenever and wherever they fall鈥�.

The Duty of a Fire Guard

鈥楾he duty of a Fire Guard is to take turns in watching for the fall of fire bombs; to warn the neighbourhood when they fall in the area for which he is responsible; to help promptly to control them and thus to prevent small fires from becoming big fires; and to fit himself by training to perform the work efficiently.

It is work which sometimes requires courage and endurance; it involves the sacrifice of time that can sometimes be ill spared, and often entails a great deal of tedious waiting and watching; but it is work which must be done if the homes and industries of the Nation are to be saved .......鈥�

Extracts taken from: Air Raid Precautions handbook no.14, 1st ed. The Fire Guard鈥檚 handbook. HMSO. 1942.

How we lived then by Norman Longmate. 1973. was also sourced for the above information.

The Kevin Morrison Collection is a collection of print-based material housed in Research Collections at Glasgow Claedonian University as a Special Collection. Three dimensional items such as this stirrup pump are stored off-site and used for outreach work and in-house displays.

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