Fire Engines Photos

The Dennis F101 was first introduced into the London Fire Brigade fleet in 1955, and between 1955-1960(5years)a total of thirty-eight were purchased.

Added by Pete Matten on 17 November 2008.

Pete - were these the first post-war Dennis dual purpose appliances bought by London, after they acquired the 62 Merryweather AEC Regents between 1950 and 1954?

Added by Rob Johnson on 11 April 2013.

London bought two F7's in 1949 and a batch of F12's at the same time as the Regents. These had OLB, NGX & PUC registrations too.

Added by Kyle on 11 April 2013.

Mike I know the AEC 470 engine found its way into a number OF LFB Dennis machines including ET's but had not realised that the RR motor had been used on the 101's - guess that's why the Drivers liked them so much

Added by Gary bolton on 12 April 2013.

With a 12.17 litre cubic capacity, the Rolls C6 diesel must have been a heavy brute! Its not too surprising the later Dennises had the AEC 470 - which was about two thirds the size.

As I remember, these Dennises were the only automotive application for the C6, which was originally designed as a boat engine.

Dennis also built one or more Emergency Tenders a few yeras later for London with a Perkins 6-354 six cylinder diesel, but this was not a very powerful engine.

Its good to know this unique PE is in preservation.

Added by Rob Johnson on 04 August 2014.

I served at B37/C30 holloway from 64 to 70 and drove SLW 177 as a P over many years and they were good to drive when you had got used to the gearbox but were very skitish in the wet or icy conditions as my Stn O found out when the P did a 360 turn near Finsbury Pk Stn one day whilst I was driving the PE, luckily no damage or harm came to anyone or thing but it was a very scary experience for all concerned.

Added by Tony Sneesby BA MD TL on 06 August 2014.

Re:SLW 177 I thought that did not arrive at C30 till 1968, when it moved from PE at Burdett Rd on
closure, replacing OLB 733 AEC/Merryweather, running
alongside 210 FLM Dennis F106 PE, both replaced by
ALL 390/1H Dennis F108s.

Added by M.West on 08 August 2014.

I did not say a date for SLW 177 arriving at Holloway as I can not remember and I am sure you are right as you know also of all the other movements that took place but I do not have any recolectons of yourself.

Added by Tony Sneesby BA MD TL on 14 August 2014.

I have found 2 hiding in some bushes in kent that need saving please in box me if you can help, photos to follow.

Added by Shaun R. on 11 September 2014.

There were also a number of F102 appliances with these Rolls Royce C6 boat engines supplied to Nottinghmashire. These were (I believe) all water tenders and had twin rear wheels - which hopefully made them a bit less tail-happy!

Added by Rob Johnson on 20 August 2018.

I was stationed at Holloway from 64 to 67 whether I drove this I would not know, as I cannot remember what I was driving last week let alone back in 64, but I can remember some of the characters on the watch, Ron Wildman, Den Hart, Colin Whatnall, Vic Vandenburgh.

Added by Tony Smith on 22 November 2018.

3 more that have come to mind from the same watch are John Sargeant, Dave Doyle and the leading hand George Smith

Added by Tony Smith on 24 November 2018.

When I was at Southwark Training School in March 1966 there a Station Officer instructor named Vic Vandenburgh. A cheeky man with ginger hair who tried to make us laugh on morning parade by getting out his roll ups behind the parade OIC and lighting up. Possibly the same guy and maybe a temporary promotion for training purposes.

Added by Bernard Paul Webb on 07 February 2024.

The 50 foot three section wood wheeled escape ladder was a uniquely British feature of urban fire appliances for more than a century.

The first wheeled ladder was invented in 1828, and London acquired one in 1836, and went on to operate more than 100. These were all positioned at street stations, and pushed to incidents by a firefighter along with as many able bodied citizens as he could muster.

Early escapes were 40 feet, and many of these were subsequently modified by the addition of a third extension which increased length to 55 feet.

In 1893 LFB started to mount the ladders on horse drawn “vans”, and position them at fire stations with a full crew of four firemen as well as a coachman. By 1913 there were 63 such horse drawn appliances, as well as 26 motor escape carriers, many of which were Cedes battery electrics. Street stations were gradually closed, and by 1913 only eleven remained.

The brigade had also added 25 70 foot escapes, and in 1905 bought its first five 82 foot manually operated turntables. By then many of the older 55 foot escapes had been replaced by lighter 50 foot versions, which later became the norm.

By the early 1900s a small water tank and hose reel were added to the escape vans, but London did not combine the pump and escape carrier into one vehicle until the early 1930s. This was quite a lot later than some other brigades. Finchley bought the first pump escape from Merryweather as early as 1904!

In 1913 the majority of London appliances were still horse drawn, and the last horse was pensioned off in 1923. In the meantime, escapes were either petrol powered or electric, and pumpers included some self propelled steam engines.








Added by Rob Johnson on 18 March 2025.

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