THE FORDSON WOT-1 AIRFIELD TENDER PART ONE

It is 1942 and the only protection from this dire weather is the cab of your truck. Well that, in theory, is the good part, except your truck is a Ford WOT-1 airfield crash tender parked at the end of a Lincolnshire bomber base runway; it has no doors, its roof is made of canvas and it doesn’t have a heater, an unnecessary extra. Why would you be there instead of inside a cosy dispersal hut with a nice log stove?

The runway itself was quite a way from the fire station and it was deemed more practical to have the crew (a driver and four firemen) sit out near the point where the bombers would return to, so that when they were stimulated into action by a red flare fired in their general direction, they were close to the returning ailing aircraft. Training flights could see a squadron of bombers taking-off, to return eight hours later, during which time the fire crews would be on constant stand-by should a bomber return early.

While, in theory, this was a practical solution, the effect on the morale of the frozen crews was anything but. The crews of the three vehicles parked up at the intersection of the runways were usually huddled together in one vehicle with a closed cab, perhaps a Bedford OY or QL water tanker, which would accompany the WOT onto the apron; the crew overspill were relegated to the canvas-covered, quick-response Jeep, probably