Austin K2 - Greatest Machines >> .
The Greatest Machines in History >> .
National Fire Service, Austin Ks
Right, on right: 1942 Austin K2 Auxilliary Towing Vehicle of the National Fire Service. Some 4,000 of these vehicles were ordered by the Home Office during the Second World War for the N.F.S. who used them to tow heavy trailer pumps.Based on the 2 ton lorry chassis,they were fitted with utility bodywork accomandating a crew of six,hoses and a 30ft ladder.The Austin K2 units were not designed to carry water,they just carried equipment and crew.
On left: Heavy pump and ladder mounted on Austin K4 chassis?
The heavy unit consisted of a 700 gpm pump mounted on a medium lorry chassis and was the chief self-propelled pump of wartime manufacture. A number of coachbuilders undertook the assembly by mounting Leyland-engined Gwynne two-stage pumps on either Austin or Morris Commercial chassis, Fordson-engined Sulzer two-stage pumps on either Ford or Bedford chassis, and Ford-engined Tangye single-stage pumps on Ford or Bedford chassis. All had 5 ½ in suction and four deliveries. In the early stages of the emergency period, about 1,000 pumps were built on Bedford chassis and others on Morris Commercial chassis before these makes were required to fulfil orders for military vehicles. Occasional use was made of other chassis, but thereafter fire engines were constructed on the Austin K4 and Fordson 7V chassis.
Left, K4 ladder, heavy pump
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:National_Fire_Service
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Grey_fire_engines
Of zoos and fire-fighting, today and in wartime
https://web.archive.org/web/20110902160428/http://worldwarzoogardener1939.wordpress.com/2011/03/22/of-zoos-and-fire-fighting-today-and-in-wartime/
1937 4x2 Merryweather Crash Tender > .
Vickers-Armstrongs Supermarine ~ 1942
London Fire Brigade
http://www.lfbphotos.com/new-lfb-pix/photo/102731.html
London Fire Brigade vehicles
http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/vehicles.asp
LFB Uniforms
http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/150/historyofuniforms.asp
LFB Helmets
http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/history-of-helmets.asp
Of zoos and fire-fighting, today and in wartime
https://web.archive.org/web/20110902160428/http://worldwarzoogardener1939.wordpress.com/2011/03/22/of-zoos-and-fire-fighting-today-and-in-wartime/ .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muVNqyiQjcI
CWAC firefighters - Canadian Newsreel - 1943 > .
The Canadian Women's Army Corps was a non-combatant branch of the Canadian Army for women, established during the Second World War, with the purpose of releasing men from those non-combatant roles in the Canadian armed forces as part of expanding Canada's war effort. Most women served in Canada but some served overseas, most in roles such as secretaries, mechanics, cooks and so on.
Auxiliary Towing Vehicle
In the early stages of World War 2, an assortment of cars, taxis and light commercials was pressed into service with the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) to tow the 20,000 trailer pumps which it was estimated would be needed to keep the fire service adequately equipped for war. This proved to be a false economy because hire charges and repair bills swallowed up the savings expected from not buying purpose-built vehicles in the first place. During an air raid on Manchester in December 1940 so many of the city's make-shift towing vehicles were out of action or under repair that trailer pumps had to be pushed to fires by their crews. Against this background, in 1941 the Government approved the purchase of 2,000 two-ton vans for use as towing vehicles, each with internal seating for the crew and stowage for hose and small gear. Let it be said now that, although widely known now as the auxiliary towing vehicle, or ATV, there is no evidence to suggest the appliance was so called until after the war.
Production started in 1941 and continued apace until 1943. Few, if any, of the 5,750 towing vehicles believed to have been finally built would have been operational in time for the large scale bombing of London and other major cities during the Blitz of 1940/41. When over 1,600 local authority fire brigades of England, Scotland and Wales were nationalised on 18 August 1941 under the National Fire Service (NFS), the AFS and its towing vehicles were absorbed into the new national body.
Most of the new vehicles were built on the short wheelbase Austin K2 2-ton chassis but some were built on the Fordson WOT2 15-cwt chassis. Both were rear-wheel drive and the Austin was powered by a 6-cylinder, 3460cc petrol engine whilst the Fordson was fitted with a V8 3261cc petrol engine. It is believed that a few towing vehicles were also produced on the Guy Ant 15-cwt chassis but none are known to survive. All three vehicles were about the same size and the cautious weight designation of the Fordson and the Guy appears to reflect their primary use as military vehicles. The bodywork was steel with a specially strengthened roof to provide protection from shrapnel and flying debris. The driver and officer-in-charge sat up front while the rest of the crew sat in the back on what was described as padded seating accommodation, this actually comprising a cushion over the equipment lockers down each side of the rear compartment. There was no separation between the driver's cab and the rear crew area and it was possible to climb through from front to back. The open back of the vehicle was provided with a waterproof curtain that could be drawn across to keep out rain and snow. Like the Green Goddesses of the post-war AFS, the ATVs were probably built by a number of different companies with no fire engine building experience. Most had a body that was 6 ft 9 ins wide but some, for no reason known to me, had a narrow 6 ft 4 ins body. The standard body overhung the rear wheels while the narrow body was virtually flush with the rear wheels. In common with all NFS vehicles, the towing vehicles were painted grey to conform with British Standard Shade No. 32, which I believe later became colour 632 Dark Admiralty Grey under BS 381C - Colours for Identification, Coding and Special Purposes.
In January 1943 the NFS issued an Operations and Training Note specifying the standard method of stowing Austin towing vehicles, so that any fireman could find the equipment on any such vehicle in the dark. Each vehicle was to carry 20 lengths of rolled hose, which would have been 2½ or 2¾ inch canvas hose, some rubber-lined, in 50 ft or 75 ft lengths. Eleven lengths were stowed in a hose locker running across the vehicle behind the front seats and where possible locally fitted racks were provided above this locker for the other nine. The racks could also be used to accommodate kit-bags and anti-gas clothing. Electric hand lamps were stowed in the driver's cabin and other tools, such as axes, picks, spades, saws and a crowbar were stowed in the under-seat lockers behind. A medical case, canvas buckets, lines, hose bandages, hand pumps and hurricane lamps were also to be found in locker boxes but hose ramps were kept on the floor at the front of the body. Other equipment provided locally, such as foam and foam
branches, was accommodated wherever it would fit. A long ladder, a short ladder and a hook ladder were carried on the roof, along with a branchpipe holder. Missing from this equipment is everything, apart from delivery hose, needed to get a pump to work. This is because suction hose, hydrant gear and hose fittings were carried on the trailer pump itself.
Wartime fires were so large that regional reinforcing moves were common and towing vehicles engaged on such calls were required to carry extra equipment to sustain both the vehicle and its crew on potentially long journeys in the blackout. This included fuel, oil and grease for the vehicle, and food for 48 hours in sealed tins and 2 gallons of drinking water for the crew. A kit bag with two blankets was specified but it is likely that provision would have been made for the whole crew of five men. Washing and shaving gear, a change of underclothing, protective clothing in haversacks and other personal equipment was also specified, together with one tin of anti-gas ointment per pump first-aid box.
http://www.romar.org.uk/page381.html
Austin K2
The Austin K2/Y is a British heavy military ambulance that was used by all Commonwealth services during World War II. Built by Austin, it was based on the civilian light truck Austin K30, differing mainly by having simple canvas closures in place of driver's cab doors.
The K2/Y could take ten casualties sitting or four stretcher cases. The rear body, known as No. 2 Mk I/L was developed by the Royal Army Medical Corps and built by coachbuilder Mann Egerton. The interior dimensions were approximately 2.6 meters long, 2.0 meters wide and 1.7 meters high. At the rear of the vehicle there were two large doors. From the driver's cab the wounded could also be accessed through a small internal door with a seat. The exterior was mainly made from painted canvas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_K2/Y
Of zoos and fire-fighting, today and in wartime
https://web.archive.org/web/20110902160428/http://worldwarzoogardener1939.wordpress.com/2011/03/22/of-zoos-and-fire-fighting-today-and-in-wartime/ .
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