Description:
A national strike by firemen commenced on 13 November 1977 and lasted for two months, during which time emergency cover was provided by military forces using by then relatively elderly ex-Auxiliary Fire Service Bedford RLHZ Self-Propelled Pumps, known colloquially as 'Green Goddesses'. These were not primarily fire engines and their main design purpose had been to pump water from lakes, rivers, canals etc into cities hit by a nuclear attack; fire fighting was a secondary role and equipment provision for this was limited. This rear view shows one such machine - registration PGW 315 - behind the Drill Hall on Cavendish Drive, Carlton.
The Green Goddesses
A large fleet of these appliances were built for the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) between 1953 and 1956, the design being based on the Bedford RL Series British military lorry. The AFS was established after World War Two in response to the threats posed by the start of the Cold War when it was feared a nuclear attack would start a large number of fires that the normal fire service would be unable to contain.
The AFS was disbanded in 1968 but the appliances were retained by the Home Office and the Scottish Home and Health Department for emergency use, being crewed by personnel from the armed forces. Although they spent much of their time mothballed, they were well-maintained and performed a useful role during firefighter strikes in 1977, 1978-79 and 2002-03 and they were also deployed to pump water during floods and droughts.
The end for the fleet came about as a result of the 2004 Fire and Rescue Services Act, which allowed the Government to instruct fire and rescue authorities to make their own vehicles available in the event of an industrial dispute. Over the following few years the remaining 900 machines were sold off, mainly to developing countries in Africa.