NOTE.- These abbreviations must not be used
over the telephone.
A.L.
Articulated Lorry.
B.L.
Breakdown Lorry.
C.U.
Control Unit.
Ca. V.
Canteen Van.
D.H.
Mobile Dehydrator.
D.L.
Dam Lorry.
D.R.
Motor Cycle Despatch Rider.
E.
E.C.U.
Escape Carrying Unit.
E.H.U.
Extra Heavy Unit.
E.T.
Emergency Tender.
Foam T.
Foam Tender.
F.T.V.
Field Telephone Van.
H.C.
Hose Carrier.
H.L.L.
Hose Laying Lorry.
H.U.
Heavy Unit.
L.
Lorry.
Lge. T.P.
Large Trailer Pump.
Lt. T.P.
Light Trailer Pump.
M.D.U.
Mobile Dam Unit.
M.K.
Mobile Kitchen.
M.W.
Mobile Workshop.
P.E.
Pump-Escape.
Pet W.
Petrol Wagon.
(Bulk Tank or Cans).
R.L.
Ramp Lorry.
S.T.
Salvage Tender.
T.L.
Turntable Ladder.
T.V.
Towing Vehicle.
U.V.
Utility Van.
W.
Wireless Car or Van.
W.U.
Water unit.
FB.
Fire Boat.
Bge.
Water Relay Barge.
ON THE WATER
Working alongside the land
based fire engines were the fireboats. Many of these were based in
London fighting the fires in the docks and warehouses alongside the River
Thames. They were also valuable for pumping water ashore in support
of
supplies from mains and refilling water tanks. Many other river and dock
areas also had fireboats.
In April and May 1944,
some 44 NFS fireboats, some seagoing, were gathered along the South Coast to provide protection for the D-Day invasion fleet.
London River Stations F District: Blackfriars Bridge,
65R,
The Massey Shaw
Cherry Garden,
58R,
Beta III
Lambeth,
1R,
Gamma II
Of all London's wartime
fireboats, the most re-known is probably the 'Massey Shaw' which is currently
under restoration, a link to the project can be found on our 'Contacts' page.
Heroes
Grimy
Faces
Crewed by members of the Fire Service
Preservation Group
The benefits of
standardisation in new fire engines, pump trailers etc. also became
clear as these became more numerous and were delivered from the
factories. Unlike pre-war they were all painted a drab grey
colour. It was said that this was
to make them less able to be spotted from the air but a more likely
reason was a shortage of red pigment. The other great
improvement was the provision of proper cabs giving protection to the
crew travelling to a fire during an air raid both from shrapnel and
flying debris.
With
World War 2 Fire Services
Living History Group
NOTE:
Several group members have secured the purchase of GXA 788 from Gideon's
estate and are in the process of restoring the vehicle to it's war time
livery, a restoration page will be added to the website soon so everyone can
follow the restoration project..
Examples of Appliance Markings
of being restored by
private owners in the United Kingdom
All appliance images used on this page are
of original period appliances restored or in the process
Medium Trailer Pump.
Med T.P.
Mobile Deluge Set.
F.Tr
M.D.S.
Fire Train.
This page is dedicated to
Gideon Watt
who sadly passed away on the 20th March 2011
Group
friend, fire appliance restorer, enthusiast and owner of 1940's Austin K4 Wheeled Escape
Unit GXA 788
Mc
Motorcycle.
W.P.
Wheelbarrow Pump.
AX4
It was agreed in
1937 that vehicles issued under Government
contracts were to be painted in British Standard colour
No 32 (Dark Battleship
Grey) with the Royal Cypher and Crown in Red. Beneath that the contract serial
number of the vehicle was painted in British Standard colour No 37 (Signal Red),
although some contract serial numbers were also painted in Black. The Grey matt
bodywork colour was finished off with a coat of clear
varnish.
N
P.L.
Pipe Lorry.
P.T.
Pipe Tender.
PRU
Pipeline Repair Unit.
Service Van.
Staff car attached to
Fire
Force 29 Headquarters
S.V.
FF.29-HQ
7
Turntable Ladder
(with pump).
River Thames Formation Fire
Boat 4
Trailer Pump
Fire Force 40, Division C,
Sub
Division 3, Station A , Trailer No 1
(Drivers Side Front Wheel
Arch)
N
T.L.P.
Fire Force 4, Division A, Sub Division 1, Station Z, Pump No 3
Water Tender.
Ws.
D.
F
F
S
WrT.
Workshops Vehicle.
Dinghy.
TB.
Towing Boat.
Con.
Control Boat.
Ca.
Canteen Boat.
Tr.
Tender.
Overseas Column
Column 7, Company A, Section X, No 4 Appliance
Y2
W1
V3
U5
X4
Appliance Mobilisation Tallies
Regular Pumps
Copyright
© Website Design Sean Vatcher 2009
- 2011
Copyright
© All fire
appliance images by kind permission of the vehicles owners 2010
All
©
marked website images © Sean Vatcher
- firephotos.co.uk
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Mobile Column
NFS
