AIRFIELD FIRE MARKS
The 1st April 2018, was the 100th anniversary of the Royal Air Force, formed back in the last year of the First World War when the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service amalgamated.
Previously, fire-fighting was left to a branch of the Army to provide cover, but as aircraft fires escalated, the authorities realised that an independent RAF firefighting force was required, although it wasn’t until 1921 that the fire dangers prompted a discussion about the need for dedicated vehicles as, previously, extinguishers were manhandled to the scene of the fire by the airfield personnel. The first appliances, Crossley 6 x 6 tenders, were converted at an M.T. depot in Shrewsbury. Morris B1s and Crossley IGLs followed and then the Fordson WOT, however, it wasn’t until the 31st December 1943 that an official RAF Fire Service was created.
Two years after the end of the War, the Royal Air Force had a hotchpotch of fire appliances covering the approaches to their runways and following the Ford
