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August 26, 2004
Goddesses on parade?
These Goddesses would not win any prizes for beauty, but they might for function!
They may be almost 50 years old, they are certainly no picture, and they are very slow, but they can shift water - loads of it! These are the famous (or infamous) Green Goddesses which are used by the miltary when the local authority Fire Services go on strike. This is not what they were originally built to do!
These vehicles were designed to provide emergency fire fighting services after a nuclear strike on a major urban centre. They fell under the aegis of the Civil Defence organisation and were stationed in Fire Force Commands (based on the WW2 National Fire Service Fire Force Command structures and regions). Each Command had a number of "Columns" all stationed or housed outside of major urban areas were they could be manned, mobilised, and sent to whichever city had been bombed. The idea of the Column was that it would have up to 50 of these "Pump Ladders" (also referred to as a Type B Water Tender) which carried the essential fire fighting equipment, a 750 gpm Sigmund or Godiva Pump, a Coventry Climax Light Portable Pump and two 1 inch low pressure hose reels. They had a crew of Officer, Driver, and four fire fighters and operated alongside pipe layers which carried lenghts of 4 inch diameter steel pipe fitted with snaplock couplings (an agricultural pipe coupling which is quick operating) and could lay up to ten miles of pipeline in total, with a Goddess at appropriate intervals to boost the water along. The Column also included a number of "Bikini" Units which carried semi-rigid inflatable rafts which could be propelled through the water by mounting a Light Portable pump on it and using two Branches fitted into special steerable brackets as "water jet" propulsion supplied from the pump.
The full makeup of the Column included tents, recovery vehicles, mobile kitchen, command and communications vehicle, and equipment for a small field dressing station. From 1954 to 1964 Auxilliary, Retained and Wholetime fire fighters and officers received training in Column operations. After the disbanding of the Auxilliary Fire Service in 1964, this role fell to the Wholetime and Retained fire fighters, and then even that was withdrawn with the disbanding of the Civil Defence structures in the late 1960's (Guess what - all done by Labour Governments trying to divert money to their pet "causes"!). The Goddesses and their ancillary vehicles were "mothballed" until the mid to late 1970's, when some were sold off to collectors at home and many went abroad where they are still doing sterling service.
In 1977 they came out of mothballs and for nine weeks of the first strike by fire fighters in this country, served as the only fire fighting force, manned by the army, navy, and airforce. They re-appeared in 2003 during the latest (and still ongoing!) dispute between Whitehall, the "Employers", and the Union, and we hope that that will be the last time these now aging beasts are used in anger.
For the anoraks:
Chassis
Bedford 7 ton military 4x4 chassis
Engine and drive train
Bedford 8 cylinder Petrol engine
Gearbox - 5 speed Full Crash (No syncromesh)
PTO's - Sandwich mounted transfer to Front Axle
Top Mounted Transfer to pump.
Fuel consumption in High Range 2x4 - 8 miles to the gallon
in Low Range 4x4 - 3 mpg
Brakes
What brakes?
Water tank - 300 gallons
Pumps
Sigmund/Godiva 750 gpm (Imperial) - PTO from Main Engine
Light Portable Coventry Climax (4 cyl Climax petrol Engine with crank or cord pull start) 125 gpm
Ladder - 10.5 meter extension.
Speed - 37 mph (Some say, unkindly, only on a downhill and the wind behind her!)
These pumps were well ahead of their time when first built, now they have done their time and like any faithfull servant, have earned their place in the history books and in retirement.
Posted by The Gray Monk at August 26, 2004 11:40 AM