three counties column
Each month Richard Knight will feature an item
from Three Counties Hospital from his collection
of history and memorabilia. This month is Part 4 of
a feature on the Three Counties Asylum Fire Brigade
Fire Bomb Fritz Hits Hospital
With TCH being situated in the country it was unlikely to be
in danger from German Bombers but it was felt that it should
comply with the national blackout regulation. Because of the
rural location and the size of the hospital it was necessary for
staff to be trained in the event of an enemy attack
As well as having its own fire brigade each department also
had its own ARP (air raid precautions) Wardens.
Frank Mays started working at TCH in 1938, He was part of
the Fire brigade during war time
(Taken from my interview with Frank in 2010 he tells us of life
during those years)
“We had a bloke called Saunders from the government who
showed us how to put the incendiary bombs out using buckets
and stirrup pumps, He also showed us how to
manage and put on gas masks. He showed us
first then we had to show the others and then
log their names down and get them to sign to
say they had been given the instructions.”
TCH did encounter the enemy twice, Frank
Mays remembers..
“We had a tough go getting through the
war, yes we did that, I remember a doodle
bug coming over (V1 flying bomb),
I remember that as plain as now, you could
tell when the engine stopped that it was
coming down, then you heard the crunch
and a huge explosion,There was a lot of us
stood watching this thing, some of them went
back in and got under the billiard table in the
ward because if it came down on us that would
be it! it was so near to
us, I watched it fly over
the football pitch, all the
flames belching out the
back of it, the engine didn’t
half rattle. It came down in
a field near Wilbury Farm.”
Frank’s fire bomb
training came in handy, On
15th March 1941 German
Bombers dropped a clutch
of incendiary bombs over
TCH, it was thought they
were probably off- loading
their cargo rather than
trying to hit the hospital.
Not to much damage was
done, only a few hit the
roof,the others hit areas of
the farm, The action of two
farm workers saved the
fire getting out of control
and only one haystack was
lost. Frank and his fellow firemen put out the roof fires.
Frank remembers.
“We did have a little shower of bombs
come down behind the nurses home at one
time. I don’t know if he {the German pilot}
was trying to hit us but I heard them come
down, we were on fire duty at the time, we
saw the plane come over followed by one of
our boys chasing him, I heard later that the
German plane was brought down before he
got to the channel but I don’t know for sure
if he was. That was one of the fires we had to
deal with.”
Anyone you know?
Please help identify the people and venue in the picture below
Sent into on the button by Liam Cornes the picture below shows a big party – maybe a Coronation party? A Christmas Party?
or even a V.E. Day party?
Can you tell us where it is, what it was celebrating or anyone in the picture.
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on the button issue 50 October 2016 |
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