Wartime Fire Services

Hello Kaga, You are probably correct about the painting of these signs. I only base my opinion on the fact that one of the fatalities from the November 1940 raid lived in the big house on the corner of Foleshill Rd and Lythalls Lane and so it is therefore a possibility that the cellar of the damaged building was later used as a Static Water Tank. This would explain the Emergency Water Supply sign painted on the wall (which hid from us all behind a telephone kiosk for many years). Those signs were staring us in the face in years gone by when we could actually have asked the old firemen precisely what they indicated and when they were done. Foleshill certainly had the factories and the Coventry Canal could not have been better placed to provide an extra supply of water to fight the fires, that is provided your father and his mates got the boards in to reduce any water loss where the banks had been breached. Another advantage to Foleshill was that each of the works fire brigades had a very good knowledge of their own individual factories and had probably drilled for years in the most effective way to fight a blaze. Those firemen who were in the city centre would have been facing a situation that few could have imagined and those firemen drafted in from elsewhere would also be working in unfamiliar surrounds.

Was Cheylesmore Garage a Shadow Fire Staion for the main Fire Station?

Does anyone remember the Fire Station in Coniston Road, Earlsdon. I remember we visited there as a Wolf Cub, The 43rd Group and sliding down the Firemans's Pole?

A website called www.firestations.org.uk lists Daventry Rd, Dane Rd, and Tile Hill Lane as the sites of previous fire stations in Coventry - but that is all it says. Back in 2014 I found out that there was another wartime fire station at Penny Park House which is on the corner of Penny Park Lane and Nunts Lane in Holbrooks. That building was subject of a discussion on the 'Keresley' topic but I can't remember the source of the information.

The original message is from 15 years ago but as a 'newbie' to the Forum and having just come across this, I just had to respond. I hope the wonderfully named Vernon Dudley Bohay-Nowell gets to see it although I note that he doesn't appear to have posted any thing since 29.09.2023. The 'baby boomers' on the Forum may remember an outrageous and very funny band from the 1960's called The Bonzo Dog Doo-Da Band. Vernon D.B-N was a member of the band and a Google search reveals that he died in November 2023. I thought at first that OUR Vernon was this character but Google didn't show any Coventry connection so I'll just assume that the non-de-plume was used in homage to the real Vernon. Good on ya! Anyway, back to business. When I read Vernon's message I remembered that amongst my late Mother's effects I had rescued a photo of the Bablake Playing Fields based AFS which Mum had dated to 1940, written on the back of the photo. She had this because one of the Firemen was her future brother-in-law, Frank Pepper, who is third from the right on the second row. Unfortunately there is no more information about the men, the clergyman and the trophies on display. The quality of the photo is not too good and I think that's because it's a copy of the original. I'm sure it would be hard to pick out and recognise any individuals. Eventually I will lodge this with the Herbert Archives.