The bombs dropped at the back and we were first on the scene. To start with we hadn't a map. I was asked to make one, so I had to make a map in sections showing all the hydrants and anything else of importance. It worked very well. The first time we were called out was when the Blitz was on. We had to go to Bordesley, then to Birmingham and then to Manchester.
They kept us three to four days in Manchester whilst the Blitz was in operation. We were sent to Trafford Park, an area of warehouses and factories. The streets were paved with granite setts. I can remember there was a huge tea-pot, for the Co-op advert � Filling The Nation's Teapot � next to it were a series of grain silos.
The Germans hit these and the burning grain came pouring down, smelling like burnt toast. The place was in chaos. We hadn't got any water although we had got our tender and our pump, but there was nothing we could do so we sat down on the side of the footpath and waited. There was a nice well-built brick shelter nearby and we suddenly
noticed that there was land mine coming down. Of course they came down on a parachute so you could see them.
We made for the shelter and Charlie Bickley, who was the leading fireman, was last in and the blast blew every button off his clothes. He landed inside on top of the rest of us and he hadn't got a button left. His jacket was open. His trousers were open. He looked a real sight.
While we were wandering round Trafford Park we came upon a fire-tender abandoned in the road. We thought we would get to a water supply and get it going. Just in time we were warned that there was an unexploded bomb beside it! Two contrasting incidents � there were hundreds of incendiary bombs falling. We had left Trafford Park and were called to a three-storey house with a burning roof. We went upstairs to extinguish the blaze with stirrup pumps. The lady of the house complained that we were ruining her stair carpet � never mind that the rafters were burning!
We were very tired after our experiences in Trafford Park, so after leaving the Park, we sat down on the kerb to rest. We were noticed by someone in a house over the road, and were invited in to share their cooked meal. We were in Manchester about three to four days. We had canteen meals; these were cold as there was no power. We had cold baked beans, biscuits and fizzy lemonade. At last they sent us to Bolton for a rest. There was a vast basement area under the fire-station, equipped with showers, with hot water and canteens.
As we arrived we were given sandwiches, then we were to have a bath or a shower and a hot meal. As we ate our sandwiches the call came through that the Codsall crew could go home. We abandoned the bath and went. That was on Christmas Eve so we
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