Memories of
FIRE STATION
DARNLEY

By
C. Manson

To find a place to start is very difficult so I will start with my earliest personal evidence, which is a letter (fig 1), detailing the Terms & Condition of service as a fireman, when my father started his service at Fire Station Darnley on 18th October 1926; perhaps a short potted history of how my father found himself applying for a job as a fireman.

He was born in Wick on the 5th of January 1901, the youngest of a family of six. When he had finished with school he started to serve his time as a watch-maker. This did not last too long, as about the middle of 1915 with the First World War now in full swing, he was asked by his Uncle John Mackay (his mother's brother) if he wanted to join him on his boat as cook, and off he went to war to serve at Scapa Flow for some three and a bit years. By this time he had had enough of boats so took himself off to Glasgow where he served his time as a carpenter (fig 2) from 31st October 1919 until 31st December 1924. By this time the recession was at its worst and jobs were very difficult to find. However, it was his proud boast that he was seldom out of work and was prepared to do almost anything that would earn an honest penny.

He was, by this time, married and had a young family (myself, born 25th June 1925). When he saw the advert in the evening paper he thought, "I must give that a go.". He told the story, that he did not have the bus or tram fare to get to Darnley, so walked all eight miles. When he arrived for his interview with fire master Charles Angus, he discovered they both came from Wick and they both were carpenters: the job was his.

On the 18th of January 1926 we all moved to our new home at Fire Station Darnley. This consisted of two bedrooms, a kitchen and scullery, and inside bathroom - the lap of luxury compared to a single apartment with an outside toilet, in the Gorbals, and all of this rent-free.

The formative years of my life were very happy ones and the main memories I have were the facts that living in a Fire Station, wives and families were subjected to the same discipline as the firemen. For example, even as a child when I heard three bells (the bell signal for a turnout), I knew to stand against the wall and not move until I heard the appliance leave the Station. This was to allow the men to get from their house to the Engine Room as quickly as possible without having to get round children at play. Also, we were not allowed to play downstairs; if we did go downstairs we had to leave the Station by the pedestrian gate (the wee gate)as quickly as possible. Wives were also subject to certain disciplines: each was allocated a washday, and someone with a young family or baby who wanted to use the drying green when it was not their turn, had to get the permission of the person whose turn it was and the fire master before hanging out any washing. However we were a happy and somewhat isolated eight families who, in the main, got on very well together.

As far as the rigours of my father's job was concerned, I must have been shielded very well, as I have no dramatic memories of him not coming back on the appliance with the rest of the crew, as happened on more than one occasion. My earliest recollection is being taken to The Victoria Infirmary when I was almost three, to find a man I did not know, his head and face covered in bandages as a result of a bus petrol tank blowing up as he was fighting a fire at O’Hara’s Bus Garage in Newton Mearns on the 19th of April 1928.

In 1935 my father was promoted to the rank of Leading Fireman, so this was him now in the front line, as in those days the Leading Fireman was always Branch man and Fire-Master Angus always went into the job to fight the fire. Another incident was on the 20th of June 1936 (fig 3) when he was fighting a fire at William Forest & Son, Chain Road, Paisley, when he received an injury to his arm and wrist.
However enough of this - he would certainly not have appreciated my cataloguing all the incidents he and the rest of the crew were involved in.

Let us get on with the story:
The Fire Station Darnley was first manned on 15th May 1915, when men and equipment were transferred from Pollokshaws Fire Station, which had been operational since August 1911, but was now within the boundaries of Glasgow. There was an official opening ceremony of the station on 12th August 1915; this has been detailed in The Upper Renfrewshire Fire Brigade Book. There were also interesting articles in the Pollokshaws News and the Paisley Gazette (see fig 4 & 5). Some of these facts I find quite startling, like the area covered by Darnley and the available crew; also the total cost involved.

In 1920 Renfrew Retained Station was disbanded and Darnley took over this area, the crew at Darnley was increased by two firemen and another appliance, a hose tenderr, was added to the strength of the station. Time progressed and, as I stated in my preamble, fire-man Manson had joined the crew and the Manson Family were now part of bigger family of "The Fire Station Darnley".

About 1930 the Merryweather Pump that had been in service August 1911 came to the end of its life, being towed home behind a steam traction engine, an event I can remember - it seemed to me a very ignominious end to an old and trusted friend. This appliance started its service at Pollokshaws Fire Station, when that station was first opened in 1911, was then transferred to Fire Station Darnley on the 15th May 1915, when Darnley was first manned.
The replacement of the Merryweather Pump, a Dennis Pump, the full details of which are given in the U.R.F.B. Book - this appliance was the state-of-the-art and caused quite a stir in Fire Brigade circles when it arrived.

The next few years passed without any major incidents until September 1938 when fire master Angus of Darnley and fire master Craig of Johnstone were instructed by the Minister of Home Security (Fire Brigade Division) to lay plans for the whole County Area, to recruit and train 390 Auxiliary Firemen. From a complement of 9 at Darnley and 8 at Johnstone this had to be an extraordinary task, which needless to say was completed on time. Again, see U.R.F.B. Book for full details.
Father was sent on a Gas Instructors Course (see fig 6) as part of the pre-training preparations. The training took place at both Darnley and Johnstone Fire Stations.

As you can well imagine, and I can only speak of Darnley, our quiet isolated life exploded into a fever of activity, with recruits being marched up and down in front of the Station, while others were running out hose and still others were learning to pitch and climb ladders and this was only the practical aspects of becoming an auxiliary fireman.

All of this training was undertaken by the full-time crew who were at this time as follows:

FIRE MASTER CHARLES ANGUS

DEPUTY FIRE MASTER GEORGE ANGUS

LEADING FIREMAN DAVID MANSON

FIREMAN FRANK TAYLOR (Driver & Pump operator)

FIREMAN JAMES MILLIGAN

FIREMAN FINDLAY MATHESON

FIREMAN WILLIAM ANGUS

FIREMAN JACK BEATTIE

This crew are due some special mention as they performed all this extra duty as just part of their job and received no extra remuneration or time off. One other name stands out at this time, and that is Mr. James McGrath, of Barrhead, who was the Drill Instructor. The details of the mobilisation of the Auxiliary Fire Service is contained in the U.R.F.B. Book so I will not repeat it here.

My own recollections of this time are that I was allowed to help with the knots class because of my having previously assisted with the training of boy scouts when training for their Fireman's Badge. I was also able to demonstrate the correct way to use the jumping sheet, but my biggest thrill was when the Hose Lorry was fitted with a Radio Receiver and I was asked to ride with the driver, so that when he left the lorry I would listen on the Police Frequency for any fire calls, and no one would convince me that I was not on the run.

I have very clear recollections of the day war was declared, Sunday 3rd September 1939, when I left the Station on the lorry with Fireman J. Milligan distributing fire-fighting equipment to the newly mobilised stations shortly after lunch time, and did not return until well after dark. The blackout was now in force and the lorry headlights were dimmed to almost non-existent. Back at the Station big changes were taking place: the recreation room was now changed into a dormitory for the extra firemen to man the second appliance that was now on the run from Darnley; the weights & measures room, a room in the main building that was used only by The Renfrew County Weights & Measures Department, was now used as a dining room. We were no longer a small isolated community, and little did I know Darnley would never be the same again, and this was only the start. Sandbags were being filled and baffle-walls built in front of the duty room, the office, and the fire master's sitting room; the latter was to be used as the air raid shelter for all the women and children in the event of an Air Raid. This was quite deliberate as it was adjacent to the duty room and in the event of a turnout the womenfolk could answer the telephone and pass the message to the newly mobilised stations. I also took my turn in the Duty Room on telephone watch.

About this time it was becoming apparent that control of the Auxiliary Fire Service by local authority was not working. Fire-fighting equipment was not standard, training methods differed from one local authority to another and, most of all, local authority boundaries still existed, which made it very difficult to mobilise a large number of appliances for Air Raid Fire Fighting. Within our own area the RENFREW BLITZ on the 11th March 1941 and the much more serious CLYDEBANK BLITZ on 13th of March 1941 demonstrated, where numerous local authority brigades, Darnley included, were involved, control of the situation was almost impossible.

There are two events worthy of mention at this time: Father was promoted to Deputy fire master. The other particular incident worthy of mention is on May 11th 1941: a call was received from the farmer at Floors Farm to a crashed aircraft. The crew from Darnley turned out and No. 4 Station (Clarkston) were also turned out and found the Air Craft to be a "Messerschmitt 110" German Fighter Bomber. Since there had been no Air-Raid Warning, this was most unusual. However, Father, being Officer-in Charge, went to the farmhouse to get the relevant particulars for the Fire Report there, to discover the farmer holding the German pilot prisoner who was speaking to no-one. In time the Police arrived, then the Army, then more Senior Police, then more Senior Army Officers came on the scene. By now it was becoming obvious this German Pilot was no ordinary prisoner; he was, in fact, Deputy Fuhrer Rudolph Hess (see fig 7). The events are as recorded, in the Fire Report (see Fig 8). I was on duty that night, and had gone to H.Q. in Paisley with mail, and remember the appliance returning, when Father told me about the incident and that I should discuss it with no-one. This was one turn-out I would have enjoyed, if only to be part of the history of the event.

Fire Master Charles Angus must have seen the writing on the wall about this time because on the 31st of July 1941 he retired, having served as fire master since 1st January 1911, firstly at Pollokshaws then at Darnley from 1915 - some 30 years, plus 14 years in Edinburgh Fire Brigade before that - a total of 44 years, a truly remarkable record.

This brought about further re-organisation. Renfrew County Council decided all fire fighting in the County would be controlled by one fire master and a Deputy, fire master John Criag at Johnston and Deputy fire master David Manson, at Darnley. This did not last long - perhaps the County Council knew more than they said.

In August 1941 The National Fire Service was formed. This brought about tremendous changes. Fire master John Craig of Johnstone took up residence at Fire Station Darnley, with the new rank of "Divisional Officer" in charge of "A-Division". Father was also given a new rank, that of "Company Officer" in charge of "Sub-Division A4", with new Conditions of Service (see fig 9). This was Darnley's new title. Fire Station Darnley was now a Sub-Division H.Q. of Western No. 2 Area, and from now on would be known as Sub-Division A4 and the appliances had the suffix 'Z', being attached to a Sub-Division Station, so the Fire Fighting Appliances were known as A4Z. Each Station within the Sub-Division had a different code letter after the A4, so each Station could be immediately identified.

All of this re-organisation was controlled from Western No. 2 Area Headquarters, which was set up at Mordun House, Stanley Road, Paisley under the control of fire master Bowman of Paisley, who was appointed Fire Force Commander for the area which covered Renfrewshire, Ayrshire, Dumfrieshire, Kirkcubrughshire, Wigtonshire, Argyleshire and Bute.

It was at this point that I became officially a member of the N.F.S. when I joined as a messenger and was issued with a uniform, a steel helmet and a civil defence gas mask, then assigned to a station and an appliance, and in the event of an Air Raid we reported to our assigned station and appliance. Over and above this, we did 4 hrs duty per week. Some of us had more difficulty getting to our station than others - since I lived on the station I did not have a problem. The down side of this was, if any despatches had to go to Paisley, which was "A-Division" H.Q. and there were no messengers on duty, guess who got the job?

During our periods of duty we received training in basic First Aid, Mobilisation, Trailer Pump operation, and Hose Running and my favourite was Mobilisation Quiz (see fig 8). This to a sixteen year old was a very exciting time: the horrors of war, the rationing of our food, the blackout, all were faded by the excitement of the moment, and for all of this we were paid the princely sum of half-a-crown, or twelve and a half pence per month for the up-keep of our bicycle. During this time I made many new friends, from Barrhead, Andy McDowall and Archie Boyd (these names will appear later in the story) and from Giffnock, Ronnie Robertson, to name three, with a mutual interest. Time progressed and when I was about sixteen and a half I developed a new interest: I wanted to join the Royal Air Force, so as a first step I joined the Air Training Corp., with Ronnie Robertson, and became members of the "1416 Squadron" Air Training Corp, based at Williamwood School in Seres Road, Clarkston, where we drilled one night per week, plus a few week-end exercises.

During this time I was still living at Fire Station Darnley and still fulfilled my duties as a messenger and did my training for the Air Force. I may say that at this time I was also working full time, serving my time as a motor mechanic, and attending Stow College three nights a week - this left the week-end to study, a busy time.
Time progressed and the rigours of the war were just accepted and everyone just got on with it, enjoying the good news and learning to live with the bad. On the 25th March 1943 I joined the Air Force (the earliest possible I could) and was put on the Reserve List until 20th September 1943 when I reported for active service at Lords Cricket Ground, St. John's Wood, London.
Since this story is about Fire Station Darnley, I will skip the next three and a half years and get on with the story, other than to mention that I had met a young lady, Miss Isobel Esson, at a dance in, would you believe, Barrhead Fire Station, where the appliances were housed in the Burgh Cleansing Department Yard in Bank Street, and the Crew in The Burgh Court, Main Street (which was there quarters during the war). The reason I mention this is that it has a part to play in the story as it progresses.

When I was de-mobilised from the R.A.F. early in 1947 I returned to Darnley, where everyone was coming to terms with peace-time conditions and reorganisation. Very shortly after V.E. Day the need for the N.F.S. man-power was no longer needed, so there was a reduction in the strength of the N.F.S. At this point Father was reduced in rank from Company Officer to Section Leader on the 21st June 1945 (see fig 10). Company Officer John McEwan became Officer-in-Charge at Darnley. All of the stations that were mobilised at the beginning of the war were disbanded with the exception of Barrhead, which was converted to a Retained Station and manned by Ex-N.F.S. personnel with Leading Fireman William McGregor In-Charge.

This retained Station was an old concept in the Fire Service. An appliance would be manned by trained firemen who would be on call on a 24hr basis and could be turned out if and when required. For this they would receive a retaining fee plus an hourly rate when turned out.

They would also drill one night per week. This could show a considerable saving on the cost of a manned full-time appliance when required, in Western Area, "A-Division", as we were now known, there were another two retained Stations, one at Paisley and one at Johnstone. fire master Bowman closed down Mordun House and returned to Paisley Fire Station where he set up Western Area H.Q. at 5 Thornhill, Johnstone. This area covered the counties of Renrew, Argyll and Bute, not quite back to the one local authority that we were before the war.

In 1948 the Fire Brigade was de-nationalised and reverted to local authority. Darnley was again a one-pump Station. However, new conditions of service were adopted and a three-watch system was set up with a 56hr working week. This meant that the pre-war Crew of eight Firemen was insufficient personnel, so Ex-N.F.S. were recruited and offered a position as Members of Western Area Fire Brigade, the local authority fire brigade, now in control of Darnley.

On the 17th of March 1950, I was married to Isobel and moved to 25 Darnley Road, Barrhead, my now mother-in-law’s house, and so started another stage in the saga. Since I now lived in Barrhead and was within 10 minutes of the Barrhead Retained Station, I was offered the position of a fire-man in the Retained Crew, which I very gladly accepted, and joined the Retained Crew on 1st of April 1950.

The crew at this time was as follows:-

Leading Fireman W. McGregor (Officer-in-charge).
Fireman J. Cochran
Fireman A. McDowall
Fireman A. Bell
Fireman F.Gray
Fireman R,Black
Fireman A. McGregor
Fireman C.Manson

Shortly after joining, the Crew was yet again moved to new premises, which were the Ex A.R.P. de-contamination centre in Gertrude Place, and it was from here that I turned-out to my first fire at Linwood Paper Mill, this was quite an experience. However, Andy McDOWALL took me under his wing. This and a tip from my father, which was "always be sure you have a way out", and managed to keep Andy and I out of trouble. We had both been at the job for about an hour and were on top of a flat roof, manning a jet and it was getting hot. Remembering my father’s tip, I had my eye on five bales at our back. When they became three, two having disappeared through the floor, we decided that discretion was the better of valour, and moved ourselves. The flat roof we were standing on was the roof of a paint store which was well alight and disappeared shortly after we left it. However, all's well that ends well: Andy and I went on to develop a friendship that lasts to this day.

Time progressed and I settled into the Crew until on the 25th February 1952 the Crew were turned-out to Greefarm, Newton Mearns, having taken 15 minutes from turn-out to booking on duty. This caused me a problem, the Station having been moved from Main Street to Gertrude Place, which was further away from home, all members of the Crew received a letter from fire master Bowman (see fig 12). The obvious solution was to get myself a bicycle; this I did and informed fire master Bowman by letter (see Fig 13). He accepted this solution, so I remained a member of the Crew. Andy McDowall took similar action with a similar outcome. The remainder of the Crew, some of whom had moved further afield, decided to resign. This left the Crew totally under strength and a recruitment drive was implemented, adverts were placed in the "Barrhead News", and by word of mouth and applicants were interviewed at H.Q. in Paisley. Out of this came a Crew, most of whom lasted until they retired or the Crew was disbanded.

The position of Leading-Fireman was also now vacant, so Andy McDowall and myself both applied and were interviewed. I was the lucky one and was appointed on the 19th May 1952 (see Fig 14).

The new Barrhead Retained Crew as of this date was as follows

LEADING FIREMAN C. MANSON

FIREMAN A. McDOWALL

FIREMAN A. BOYD

FIREMAN F. DOLAN

FIREMAN A. COOK

FIREMAN J. McFARLANE

FIREMAN J. DIVENEY

FIREMAN W. COUBROUGH

FIREMAN E. KELSO

FIREMAN J. VAUGHAN

This new Crew went through a very intensive training by Assistant Divisional Officer J. Hartil for the next ten to twelve weeks. Not least of all the new Leading Fireman, I can remember one of our very early drills where the Crew had run a line of hose aloft to the second floor window of the drill tower, and there I am with the branch in my hand on the second floor, being asked, who is going to control and direct the Crew now. This training stood the Crew in very good stead as future incidents were to prove.

To bring Fire Station Darnley back into the story, Darnley was our parent station where our mobilisation was carried out from. To mobilise the Crew there was a siren (ex-wartime Air Raid siren) which was on top of the gaswork building at Main Street, and the Crew had a bell in their house, both of which were actuated from Darnley. On hearing the siren or bell the Crew made their way to the Retained Station in Gertrude Place as quickly as possible.

It was my responsibility to inform Darnley as soon as there was a Crew of five available and receive my instructions to turn-out, or stand-by at Darnley. The Crew also trained at Darnley and since we did not have a Hose Drying Tower at Barrhead all the hoses were scrubbed and hung-up at Darnley, so as you can see the Crew maintained a very close association with our parent Station. This situation continued until 1964, when a new full-time station had to be built, because Glasgow had extended their boundary and Fire Station Darnley was now situated in Glasgow. The new site chosen was in Grahamston Road, Barrhead, and during 1963 and 1964 building progressed until on 29th October 1964 the new Barrhead Fire Station was opened (see article in BARRHEAD NEWS).

At this point in time the part0time station situated at Gertrude Place was closed and the Retained Crew moved to the new Station in Grahamston Road, where we continued as part of the complement of this Station, with our own appliance and equipment. We were still mobilised from H.Q. in Johnston but now turned-out from the new station when we were required. The crew also did all their training and Equipment maintenance. In short, we continued to serve in Western Area Fire Brigade as we had on the past, but were now part of a full-time station. As you can well imagine this brought about new disciplines and a totally new feeling of being a part of a full-time station. However, I must say, despite our earlier misgivings, and there were many, the Retained Crew soon became part of a very efficient unit.