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| 1st
Bn Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment
(Berkshire and Wiltshire)
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| 'A' and
'B' Companies go north to 'fight' fires |
| OPERATION
BURBERRY |
| After some
basic firefighting training at Portsmouth the 'Volunteers' from the
Battalion went north to Scotland as part of the Army's support during the Fireman's
strike. 'A' Company went to a disused factory at Queenslie, in the East
end of Glasgow, and sent a second contingent to Lanark. 'B' Company were
stationed at Greenock, Kilburnie and Preswick In general they worked
12 hour shifts with an 18 hour shift once a week to change from days to
nights. At anyone time 4 crews were on duty, 2 on 'immediate' and 2 on
'standby'. All crews were supported by the local Police to get them to the
right place when required. 'A' Coy were only attacked once whilst carrying
out thier duties, once during a car fire episode and the second when
Celtic lost to Rangers. The better 'Shouts' were to 'The School' 'The
County Pub' 'Ardgay Street' 'Lochdockart Road' 'Salamanca road, coffin
factory' plus other smaller events. Kev DAY who has supplied us with lots
of the information below , and who has gone on to become a regular
firefighter has asked us not to mention the time where he was directly
responsible for totally flooding out a supermarket whilst tackling a
fairly minor blaze in a nearby bakery, it could ruin his reputation with
his current colleagues !!! |
| Firefighting
Gallery
(Click on thumbnail to enlarge) |
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| 'Charlie's angels' |
'Georgie Girl' |
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| DERR Group |
Cpl Beets Mob |
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| The Colonel-in-chief
watches men of 'A' Company with (Left) Major BRADLEY and (Right) Lt Col
JONES |
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| Sgt RAVU and crews 3 and 4
of Support Company training in Queenslie |
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| The Coffin Factory. The
fire was fought by 'A' Company for eleven hours |
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| 'A' Company cut out a man,
his wife and their 14 year old daughter from this crushed car. |
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| Prestwick H.Q.
L to R : Pte TOMALON, L/Cpl WATERFALL, Sgt BEET, Pte
RODWELL, Sgt SCULLY, (Kneeling) Pte DRISCOLL, Pte ROLLER |
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| A Green Goddess team from
Prestwick
Standing : Pte GIDLEY, L/Cpl HILL, Pte SOUTH,
Kneeling : Pte ANGLAIS, Pte TRIKEY, Pte HALL |
| A
record of events and incidents attended by one Green Goddess crew during
'Operation Burberry' by the 1st Battalion. Supplied by Kev DAY |
| Serial |
Time Out |
Time in |
Date |
Action |
| 1 |
01.00 |
01.55 |
8.12.77 |
Nil |
| 2 |
2055 |
21.20 |
8.12.77 |
Nil |
| 3 |
03.10 |
04.40 |
9.12.77 |
House
fire Extinguished |
| 4 |
22.15 |
23.00 |
9.12.77 |
Take
over H.M.S. Gannett |
| 5 |
00.15 |
07.30 |
10.12.77 |
Farm,
left to burn out |
| 6 |
21.29 |
21.40 |
10.12.77 |
False
Alarm |
| 7 |
23.20 |
23.40 |
11.12.77 |
False
alarm, good intent |
| 8 |
04.49 |
06.27 |
13.12.77 |
Return
to Station |
| 9 |
15.40 |
16.40 |
14.12.77 |
Shop
fire, Extinguished |
| 10 |
11.26 |
11.40 |
16.12.77 |
False
alarm, good intent |
| 11 |
12.55 |
14.05 |
17.12.77 |
Chimney
fire |
| 12 |
19.26 |
19.50 |
17.12.77 |
Hoax |
| 13 |
10.42 |
11.38 |
18.12.77 |
Chimney
fire |
| 14 |
21.45 |
22.54 |
20.12.77 |
False
alarm, good intent |
| 15 |
18.38 |
19.03 |
22.12.77 |
False
alarm, good intent |
| 16 |
17.25 |
17.45 |
24.12.77 |
False
alarm, good intent |
| 17 |
17.55 |
18.38 |
24.12.77 |
Kitchen
fire |
| 18 |
19.10 |
19.50 |
24.12.77 |
Chimney
fire |
| 19 |
09.30 |
10.25 |
25.12.77 |
Chimney
fire |
| 20 |
13.30 |
15.50 |
25.12.77 |
Coach
and shed fire ? |
| 21 |
22.23 |
22.27 |
25.12.77 |
False
alarm, good intent |
| 22 |
06.37 |
07.25 |
26.12.77 |
False
alarm, good intent |
| 23 |
22.25 |
23.30 |
27.12.77 |
Chimney
fire |
| 24 |
15.00 |
16.25 |
29.12.77 |
Chimney
fire |
| 25 |
17.20 |
17.30 |
29.12.77 |
False
alarm good intent, Chimney fire |
| 26 |
18.40 |
19.00 |
29.12.77 |
False
alarm good intent, rubbish tip |
| 27 |
18.05 |
18.45 |
31.12.77 |
Chimney
fire ? |
| 28 |
01.58 |
02.16 |
2.1.78 |
Hoax |
| 29 |
21.00 |
23.30 |
2.1.78 |
Goddess
fire ? |
| 30 |
03.45 |
05.20 |
3.1.78 |
House
fire |
| 31 |
17.20 |
18.35 |
4.1.78 |
Chimney
fire |
| 32 |
07.03 |
11.15 |
6.1.78 |
Back
up crews (Same fire) |
| 33 |
11.50 |
17.35 |
6.1.78 |
Welders
re-ignite |
| RECORD
CLOSED |
| Memories
of 'Burberry' |
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| Firefighters
from the 1st Battalion Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment tackle a roof
blaze (Can anybody identify these firemen ?) |
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| The
local newspaper reads 'Inaction' troops from the 1st Bn D.E.R.R. 'Gonking'
between shouts (Who are they ?) |
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| 'Its
that dog again'
Pte Bob John (Left) of Reading
and Drummer Brian Titcombe of Newbury with 'Hoofer' a stray mongrel they
befriended. |
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| Pte
Frank 'Jock' PEET the longest serving private Soldier in the Battalion.
The firefighting duties in Scotland brought him home as he hailed from
Glasgow. (Anybody know where Jock is today ?) |
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| A
'Farmersboy' tackling a house fire on OPERATION 'BURBRRY' |
| FIREFIGHTER
Kev DAY |
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| Our thanks to Kevin DAY for much of the
information above, who after tasting
the 'Firefighters' way of life, decided to do it for real. Kev said
"If the Fire service instructors saw what we got up to during that
deployment, they would
have had heart attacks !!!"
If any soldiers who deployed on OPERATION BURBERRY have
any photographs, please contact Mac
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