National Fire Service:, the local fire brigades of Wales, England and Scotland were combined into one National Service in August 1941 with the goal of more effectively combating fires started by German air raids. The NFS was disbanded in 1948.
“The National Fire Service (NFS) was born out of the stress of war.To overcome some of the earlier problems the fire service was organized into the National Fire Service (NFS) bringing together the 16,000-plus fire brigades within the country. This force came into existence on the 18th August 1941 and all brigade and AFS personnel were transferred into it. The service was responsible, through regions, to the Home Office directly which meant that the chain of command was much simpler and the standardization of training and equipment could be quickly affected.Its public image was of firemen being military service dodgers and a wasted workforce. This was hard for them to bear. The public perception was soon changed as the bombing began. The public saw just how brave these people were and how hard their task was. Now they were public heroes. Prime Minister Winston Churchill later referred to them as ‘heroes with grimy faces’. The Daily Express referred to the AFS badge as ‘a badge of honor’. There is no doubt that the fire service did an excellent job during the blitz on London and else where in the country. For 90% of the auxiliary firemen the blitz was their first experience of fire fighting.”Source: http://www.wwiifire.co.uk/History.htm
In a 60 day period beginning September 1st, 1941, London reported:
16,276 small fires (1 pump)
1,314 medium fires (2 – 10 pumps)
110 serious fires (11 – 30 pumps)
14 conflagrations (30+ pumps)
National Fire Service:, the local fire brigades of Wales, England and Scotland were combined into one National Service in August 1941 with the goal of more effectively combating fires started by German air raids. The NFS was disbanded in 1948.