The Inconsistency With Medals

The use of these long service medals continued until 1941, discontinued from 1941 to 1948, and then revived from 1948 to 1954. There were then several long service medals which could be awarded by various bodies, but with no uniformity of practice. Theoretically, a member in one brigade could wear up to three long service medals; that is, one from his local authority, together with one or two from one or both of the associations; while a man with identical service in another brigade might wear no medals at all. Everything depended upon the policy of his employing authority and his own willingness to join the associations. All the awards mentioned were ‘unofficial’ in the sense that they were not part of the State system of honours, and when medals or ribbons were worn in uniform they would be placed on the right breast.

The medals were either made by manufacturing jewellers to patterns requested by the purchasers, or from a range of standard patterns stocked by manufacturers.


A Changing Fire Service

The middle and late 1930s brought important developments affecting fire brigades. In 1935 the Government set up the ‘Riverdale Committee’ to look into the organisation of fire services in <country-regionw:ston>England and <country-regionw:ston><placew:ston>Wales. The committee’s recommendations led to the Fire Brigades Act 1938, which for the first time made a statutory requirement for a nationwide fire service, but before the 1938 Act could be implemented, it was overtaken by the outbreak of war.

In September 1939, the fire brigades went on to a war footing, greatly reinforced by the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) which had been created in 1938, also as a consequence of the Riverdale Committee. Air raids in the autumn of 1940 revealed grave deficiencies in the fire

In 1949, the question of an official long service medal for members of fire brigades came up for consideration by the Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council (for England and Wales) and the Scottish Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council. These two councils advise the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Scotland respectively on certain fire service matters. The two advisory councils appointed a Joint Committee to consider the award of long service medals. The Report of the Joint Committee was completed by May 1951.
In outlining the arguments for the creation of a long service medal, it was emphasised by the committee that local authority medals failed to give full recognition to the different types of service- pre-war local authorities, war-time nationalised and post-war local authorities - which could be aggregated. The main arguments in favour of a medal were:
(a) the only medal available to fire brigades, except for awards of the Order of the British Empire, was the then King’s Police and Fire Services Medal, which was limited to a very small number annually;

(b) the grant of a long service medal would provide a means of recognition of long and faithful service which is lacking in the Fire Service although provided in other forces, (the police in 1951) and the Industrial side of the civil service who are eligible for the Imperial Service Medal;

(c) the medal would be of particular value in the case of the lower ranks, in which most firemen necessarily remain throughout their careers.

The Joint Committee also noted that the establishment of a long service medal for the Police (in 1951) would give rise to strong feelings among firemen, many of whom spent their early years of service as Police Firemen, and that they should not be at a disadvantage with policemen in this respect.

The report was accepted by the Advisory Councils on 2nd May 1951, although some representatives of the local authorities considered that they should retain the discretion to issue local medals. The report was submitted to the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals in March 1952; the Honours Committee expressed the view that they would prefer that the design of the proposed medal should be based upon ‘fire fighting’ rather than ‘rescue from fire’.

Finally, with the sanction of the Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, a draft Royal Warrant was submitted to the Queen and received Her Majesty’s gracious approval. An announcement was made by the Prime Minister in the House of Commons, accompanied by a White Paper giving the terms of the warrant, which came into effect on 1st June 1954.

In May 1954, the Honours Committee gave provisional approval to the medal design which was ordered to be photographed and submitted for the Queen’s approval. In August 1954, a specimen was struck and approval was granted by the Queen on 13th December 1954. A Press Notice and photographs were issued on 31st December 1954.

The Honours Committee had also considered the design of a suitable ribbon for the new medal. It was first thought that the ribbon should be similar in design to the Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal ribbon, but with Union Flag Red in place of the dark blue. These colours were not proceeded with, possibly because they bore some resemblance to the Sea Gallantry Medal. Bunting Yellow was used to replace the white in the Police ribbon, together with a selection of oranges and reds. The final choice was for Union Flag Red (BCC21O) with Bunting Yellow (BCC133) stripes.

cont.