Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

at 29/04/2008 10:51

Firefighters from Saltash Fire Station are holding a ceremony to unveil a very special memorial plaque, dedicated to Firefighters who lost their lives in World War II.

Families of the fallen men will attend the ceremony, organised by Saltash Fire Cadet Leader, Darren Berrey and the Saltash Cadet group. In addition to the plaque unveiling ceremony, there will be vintage vehicles and a display from the Saltash museum detailing the history of the station.

Saltash Fire Station would like to invite all residents from the local area to come along and attend the ceremony and find out more about the history and heroes from years gone by.

Darren Berrey explained, “The Firefighters that lost their lives were part of the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) who were volunteer crews, created by local authorities during the war to cope with the extra incidents that needed attending. We wanted to commemorate the work they did and remember them to the people of Saltash.”

The fateful call came on the night of 22nd April 1941, a year after the AFS first started operating when a Saltash taxi left for Devonport towing a trailer pump unit with the Saltash AFS crew aboard. On the way it hit an unexploded bomb and all of the brave Firefighters lost their lives.

The names of the Firefighters:

Francis J Brooking

Stanley R Crabb

Alfred J Crapp

Bernard Jasper

John R.H Stanlake

Leslie G Tibbs

Francis Brooking, being instructor to this AFS unit, was not part of the duty crew on this evening but decided to go along as an extra to support his crew.

AFS crews from Saltash were supplemented with Boy Scout members who had obtained their fire badge. Saltash became the only town in the country to have a complete crew made entirely of Scouts. One of these Scouts, Donald Cummins, who was only 16 years of age also lost his life six days later in an act of bravery, sending a weaker member of the crew back to the pump whilst he fought on and was killed instantly when a bomb fell.

Donald Cummins was posthumously awarded the B.E.M Bronze Cross (the V.C of Scouts), as was the Scout Master, Mr Vosper whose life was saved by Donald. Two other AFS members were awarded the Silver Cross (the second highest decoration) for their bravery.