Firefighting the Blitz: Fire Service Memories

During the Blitz, London’s fire defense relied on one leader’s wartime planning and national coordination.

War was coming. Everyone knew that confrontation with Nazi Germany was inevitable and that London was likely to be a prime target of Hitler’s bombers. So, in January 1939, Aylmer Firebrace, the Chief Officer of London Fire Brigade, was seconded to the Home Office to plan for the capital’s fire defence.

Before joining the Fire Brigade, Aylmer Firebrace had been a Royal Navy officer who ha...