NFS North London Messengers Part 1

Part One
[The requirements of the ‘Site’ mean that the ONE article has had to be split into five parts]

Unit Name The Priory Messengers.

In the summer of 1942 a few individual teenagers attached themselves to Fire Stations to serve as best they could as messengers. At that time there was no Messenger Service. Those in authority must have seen the valuable potential in these young men and decided to build on it.
One autumn in 1942 a fireman turned up at our Youth Club at the Woodberry Down Baptist Church in Tottenham, to ask if there were any lads who might be interested in becoming a messenger in the NFS? I gave my name and shortly received a letter from the “C” Divisional Establishment Officer, telling me to report on the 12th December 1942, to Fire Station, C2Y, Alroy Road, Hornsey N4, for the inaugural meeting of the N.F.S. Messengers. I thus became a founder member of that messenger service. That first evening there were twenty one of us present.

The driving force behind this move was Deputy Fire Force Commander E.S. Beck of 35 C Division. who always took a lively interest in all our affairs, and later became Patron of “Tally Ho”, but more of that later.

From the early days we had the help and co-operation of the “B” Division Communication Officer, Company Officer Clayton, who proved to be a valuable guv’nor and friend.

We had the great good fortune to have as our leader and inspirer a former Scout Master, Leading Fireman R. H. Bennett (later Section Leader). His talents as a leader of boys made our organisation very attractive to young men. Alongside Mr. Bennett we had Leading Fireman Groves a very able assistant.

The Fire Station at Alroy Road would only have held a single Appliance with no other facilities, so in fact we met in a requisitioned house opposite, on the corner of Lothair Road. This house was for the sole use of the Messengers. Our Duty consisted of training on any four evenings each week and it was not until February ’43 that we started all-night duties. By then we had most of our equipment and felt very smart. Our Duty Rota was one night in six and consisted of lectures, a spot of P.T. and occasional turn-outs. These evenings always proved very interesting and were looked forward to.

From the beginning it was recognised that, not only would well-based training in many aspects of an effective fire service add to the usefulness of a messenger service, but that alongside that training, these young men would benefit from a bonding together in activities other than the demands of active service.

During 1943, beside duty nights, we had occasional Church Parades and a big attraction was the Area Display at Lambeth in which we were able to provide a cycling turn. We worked hard for this show and it proved a success.

For the Summer of 1943 a camp was arranged at the Elstree Film Studios. We all had a great time with over thirty lads taking part. There was a great mixture of fun and training, of relaxation and perfecting our cycling routine.

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