Looking back – Horsham on the Home Front (Fire Service)

After VE Day the local paper (West Sussex County Times) quickly pulled together a series of articles looking at the work locally of various wartime organisations that were essential during the conflict.

Using the information provided we are publishing a number of posts looking at how Horsham fared on the Home Front. This time we feature the Fire Service.

Tthe first meeting of Horsham’s Auxiliary Service (AFS) was back in 1938, with 13 in attendance.

These men acted as a back-up to the regular fire service Auxiliary Fire Service and had to do 60 hours of drills before they were considered ready for action. On completion of this they received £1 and a badge.

The first fire that the AFS attended was at Strood Park (now Farlington School) in early 1939, working alongside the ‘regulars’.

Just before war broke out 20 men were called for full-time duty and an auxiliary fire station opened at Jackson’s Garage in Springfield Road.

In the villages (eg Southwater, Barns, Green and Broadbridge Heath) sub-stations were established to complement those already existing in Crawley, Billingshurst and Partridge Green).

With the start of hostilities those on duty in Horsham slept on the floor, using stretchers, ladders and ‘jumping’ sheets as beds – camp beds arrived later.

By November 1939 the full-time men had been reduced to six and were required to man the Air Raid Precaution control as well as their own by night with a rota of 12 hours on and 12 off.

That first year of the war saw no bombing raids and the AFS generally (and rather disparagingly) became known as the ‘Darts Brigade’ as there was little to do.

However, once the blitz began their importance became all too apparent!

On September 7 1940 the Horsham AFS received its first out-of-town call, from London, and a pump crew of full and part-time volunteers travelled to Croydon Fire Station and then to Victoria Docks to battle the enormous fires raging there.

Subsequently they also helped out at Southampton, Portsmouth, Gravesend, Leatherhead, Worthing, Tunbridge Wells and East Grinstead.

In early 1940 the Horsham AFS acquired vehicles for towing appliances, with the full-time staff converting the cars.

October 1940 saw the first incendiary bombs fall on Horsham, on Stanley Street Laundry, but little damage was caused.

However, also that year a much more serious fire happened at Victory Road Schools with the Horsham AFS and Horsham Fire Brigade attending.

The first air raid incident to cause loss of life happened in November that year in Orchard Road.

In 1941 the number of full-time members was increased and firewomen were introduced for the first time in Horsham Fire Brigade’s history – they were a part of the watchroom control.

The Fire Service was nationalised in 1941 to enable a better overall control and standardise operations and so the Horsham service became part of the National Fire Service (NFS).

In March and April 1942 Horsham’s firefighters needed reinforcements from Worthing when they fought blazes at Carter Brothers, of Wisborough Green, and Walter Woods and Co Ltd, of Horsham.

It was around this time that a prefabricated hut was built for full-time staff to sleep and have some recreation.

Static water tanks were first used in Horsham in September 1943 when there was a fire at Linden Terrace Tyre Works. Handily, there was an exercise taking place locally and so reinforcements from London who were taking part helped out.

Two fire service vehicles were damaged in 1944 when Horsham NFS was putting out a fire on the outskirts of town, caused by two Mitchell bombers crashing and setting off explosions.