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1943 Dodge 82A Mobile Dam Unit
1943 Dodge 82A Mobile Dam Unit (GXM 542) of the National Fire Service.Built to Home Office specifications,this M.D.U. served in the South Buckinghamshire area with the N.F.S.during the war.It then passed to Buckinghamshire Fire Brigade before going into private ownership.It was finally purchased in 1984 and into preservation.
Through bomb and flame,they stood their ground,with just an axe,or branch in hand.
No thought for themselves,just others around,they gave so much,protecting our land.
As bomb after bomb,fell to ground,that terrible noise,that terrible sound. The young and the old,they all did their bit,those very brave firemen,sadly now many dead.
Many have gone,but will not be forgot,for all that they did,and much they could not
They all did their best,in our hour of need,those hundreds of firemen,a very brave breed.
We'll never forget them,and all that they did,to make this world better,and life better to live.
God bless the many,that have sadly now gone,we shall remember them,freedom and peace cannot be wrong.
1943 Dodge 82A Mobile Dam Unit (GXM 542) of the National Fire Service.Built to Home Office specifications,this M.D.U. served in the South Buckinghamshire area with the N.F.S.during the war.It then passed to Buckinghamshire Fire Brigade before going into private ownership.It was finally purchased in 1984 and into preservation.
Through bomb and flame,they stood their ground,with just an axe,or branch in hand.
No thought for themselves,just others around,they gave so much,protecting our land.
As bomb after bomb,fell to ground,that terrible noise,that terrible sound. The young and the old,they all did their bit,those very brave firemen,sadly now many dead.
Many have gone,but will not be forgot,for all that they did,and much they could not
They all did their best,in our hour of need,those hundreds of firemen,a very brave breed.
We'll never forget them,and all that they did,to make this world better,and life better to live.
God bless the many,that have sadly now gone,we shall remember them,freedom and peace cannot be wrong.
A Pat, you sure come up with the unexpected questions. Oh well here goes.
This was just one of the many simular mobile dam units urgently built during the war to supply fire-fighting water to blitzed areas.Built on a normal production chassis, the unit was fitted with an open crew cab shelter behind the driving cab (5 or 6 riders were the norm) and a standard dam unit fixed to the open truck deck.I beleave, just a standard portable pump was carried on
the rear of the vehicle, but as more trailor pumps came available, the mobile dam units would tow one.Equipment carried would have been delivery/suction hose and a small amount of firefighting equipment. These appliances though
were generally used for supplying water-not for firefighting.
Added by Pete Matten on 08 September 2008.
This was just one of the many simular mobile dam units urgently built during the war to supply fire-fighting water to blitzed areas.Built on a normal production chassis, the unit was fitted with an open crew cab shelter behind the driving cab (5 or 6 riders were the norm) and a standard dam unit fixed to the open truck deck.I beleave, just a standard portable pump was carried on
the rear of the vehicle, but as more trailor pumps came available, the mobile dam units would tow one.Equipment carried would have been delivery/suction hose and a small amount of firefighting equipment. These appliances though
were generally used for supplying water-not for firefighting.
Added by Pete Matten on 08 September 2008.
Thanks Pete, for your patience, and gonna tax it some more;
Your info definitely touches upon our current mode of operations here, in rural Canada. We have absolutely zero [0] feet of piped water supply in our rural area. To access the nearest municipal hydrants involves a ferry ride - not time-effective.
So, a number of the fire-fighters on our calls are involved solely in transporting water - just like this truck above.
In fact, if they are running the supply pump/Pumper at the river, lake or stream; and filling up the trucks on the Tanker Shuttle(which can be of several miles distance) - they may not actually see the fire-scene until it's all over....
Now, I take it that the Mobile Dam is an open tank fixed to the bed of this truck - it was parked; Portable Pump, suction hose and supply hose were rigged. So Relay Pumping was then carried out, with a chain of these, from water source, to fire-scene.
As your poem expresses so aptly; now, we are looking at their beautifully preserved truck, and just trying to get a sense of what its WW-2 crew had to cope with.
And their techniques still applicable today, viz: the 1989 San Francisco, USA earth-quake - for instance - ruptured many municipal water-pipes; and the SFFD had to revert to this water-supply method in fighting the resultant major fires.
It is nosey old me here, but I am sure that many Informed Readers are picking up on your info - both that and your terrific collection of fire engine photos, that you are generously sharing with us on the World Wide Web.
Regards, from Canada,
Pat_R-B
PS Not to forget all the other contributors, too!
Added by Pat Rivers-Bowerman on 09 September 2008.
Your info definitely touches upon our current mode of operations here, in rural Canada. We have absolutely zero [0] feet of piped water supply in our rural area. To access the nearest municipal hydrants involves a ferry ride - not time-effective.
So, a number of the fire-fighters on our calls are involved solely in transporting water - just like this truck above.
In fact, if they are running the supply pump/Pumper at the river, lake or stream; and filling up the trucks on the Tanker Shuttle(which can be of several miles distance) - they may not actually see the fire-scene until it's all over....
Now, I take it that the Mobile Dam is an open tank fixed to the bed of this truck - it was parked; Portable Pump, suction hose and supply hose were rigged. So Relay Pumping was then carried out, with a chain of these, from water source, to fire-scene.
As your poem expresses so aptly; now, we are looking at their beautifully preserved truck, and just trying to get a sense of what its WW-2 crew had to cope with.
And their techniques still applicable today, viz: the 1989 San Francisco, USA earth-quake - for instance - ruptured many municipal water-pipes; and the SFFD had to revert to this water-supply method in fighting the resultant major fires.
It is nosey old me here, but I am sure that many Informed Readers are picking up on your info - both that and your terrific collection of fire engine photos, that you are generously sharing with us on the World Wide Web.
Regards, from Canada,
Pat_R-B
PS Not to forget all the other contributors, too!
Added by Pat Rivers-Bowerman on 09 September 2008.
Does anyone know how the tank is attached to the bed of the wagon? Even if the weight of 2tons of water is enough hold it down full (doubtfull) it will need securing when empty.
Added by Neal Glover on 14 September 2011.
Added by Neal Glover on 14 September 2011.
Am I correct in thinking that many mobile dam units carried 400 gallons of water, plus a 350 gallon-per-minute pump with its own engine? If I am correct, does anyone know if it would have been possible to replace the pump with a 500 GPM pump, powered from the road engine via power take off, without exceeding the plated weight of 5 tons?
Added by Bill Edwards on 28 December 2012.
Added by Bill Edwards on 28 December 2012.
This was in fact done by several brigades in the early to mid 1950s , together with a body rebuild to give a crew cab and normal lockers. Hampshire had quite a few they rebuilt themselves, but as type A water tenders without a built in pump. The pump carried was usully a demounted small trailer pump c150gpm but they towed a large trailer pump usually.
Added by Neal Glover on 29 December 2012.
Added by Neal Glover on 29 December 2012.
I should have added that there is an ex Westmorland Dodge WrT type A preserved and is undergoing a rebuild to origional Westmorland spec. The origional rebuild was done by a coach builder in Kendal. For photos see the Rusty Trucks website
Added by Neal Glover on 01 January 2013.
Added by Neal Glover on 01 January 2013.
Hi there. Does anybody know the unladen weight of these vehicles as we have just purchased one and have to have it transported.
Added by Rick on 27 January 2016.
Added by Rick on 27 January 2016.
Someone above says plated (gross laden) weight is 5 tons. It does seem with two ton of water aboard they would exceed 5 tons when laden maybe gross was 6 ton. They only have five stud wheels so will probably be a 2/3 ton load capacity truck. I would guess around 3-4 ton weight with no gear.
Added by Craigw on 29 January 2016.
Added by Craigw on 29 January 2016.
I have got a Dodge mobile dam unit of which she is in the process of being rebuilt from a red fire engine to a mobile dam unit. She was bought from Weedon in Northampton a couple of years ago. The weight on the side states 3ton 16cwt 2qtr. Don't forget, this is the weight of my vehicle when she was a front line engine, so a mobile dam unit would be lighter. The reg. no. of my vehicle is GXM 627, I believe she was first registered in 1943. At the moment, she has a crew cab, so to change her back to NFS condition, I will have to rebuild her cab to carry only two people. The other cab will be kept complete, so if I decide to change her back to a red fire engine, then I can put it back on. This depends upon the feedback I get when is at last back on the road, which will not be for another two years at least.
Added by Dave Battersby on 07 May 2016.
Added by Dave Battersby on 07 May 2016.
Would there be any chance of seeing a pic of it in its current state?
Added by Craigw on 13 May 2016.
Added by Craigw on 13 May 2016.
I cannot do it through the internet as my computer does not recognise the printer.
I cannot do it through the internet just yet as my computer does not recognise my printer. So the only way to get a photo to you would be to send it by post. I will cover the cost of post and packing. please ring me on 07963741246, thankyou.
Added by Dave Battersby on 17 June 2016.
I cannot do it through the internet just yet as my computer does not recognise my printer. So the only way to get a photo to you would be to send it by post. I will cover the cost of post and packing. please ring me on 07963741246, thankyou.
Added by Dave Battersby on 17 June 2016.
Dave that is extremely kind of you, but no problem to wait until you sort your computer.
Many thanks. Craig
Added by Craigw on 22 June 2016.
Many thanks. Craig
Added by Craigw on 22 June 2016.
These MDUs were probably the first water tenders to be used on any scale in the UK, and it’s not surprising that some of the newly formed county fire brigades in 1948 were eager to continue to use them.
Before WWII there seem to have been relatively few fire appliances which carried much of their own water supply. Many pumps had no water tanks at all, and those that did seldom carried more than 40 to 60 gallons (180/275 litres). All very well if you could set into a hydrant, a duck pond or a stream, but a pretty hopeless situation in any other circumstances.
I have seen one tandem axle water tanker from this era which looks as if it might have held around 2000 litres, but nothing else.
The biggest fleet of high capacity tankers which emerged after WWII were the ex US army GMC 6X6 trucks, which were converted into 3, 000 liter tankers in many European countries with hundreds going into fire service duties in France in particular. It does however seem that no one uses them I n the U k.
Several of these are on this site under GMC.
Added by Rob Johnson on 23 January 2023.
Before WWII there seem to have been relatively few fire appliances which carried much of their own water supply. Many pumps had no water tanks at all, and those that did seldom carried more than 40 to 60 gallons (180/275 litres). All very well if you could set into a hydrant, a duck pond or a stream, but a pretty hopeless situation in any other circumstances.
I have seen one tandem axle water tanker from this era which looks as if it might have held around 2000 litres, but nothing else.
The biggest fleet of high capacity tankers which emerged after WWII were the ex US army GMC 6X6 trucks, which were converted into 3, 000 liter tankers in many European countries with hundreds going into fire service duties in France in particular. It does however seem that no one uses them I n the U k.
Several of these are on this site under GMC.
Added by Rob Johnson on 23 January 2023.
picture 19298 has a typical French GMC 2.5 ton 6X6 3000 litre brush pump-tanker, which was in front line use from 1945to 1988!
These were not only deployed extensively in France and other European countries in this kind of role after WWII, but in Australia and also - unsurprisingly - with various fire services in the Americas. In a few cases they were more comprehensively modified for urban use, with coachbuilt crew cabs, numerous lockers, ladder gantries and (in France) dual one man hose carts. Some had front mounted pumps, but they usually however had smaller water tanks around 1200 to 2000 liters.
Added by Rob Johnson on 05 February 2023.
These were not only deployed extensively in France and other European countries in this kind of role after WWII, but in Australia and also - unsurprisingly - with various fire services in the Americas. In a few cases they were more comprehensively modified for urban use, with coachbuilt crew cabs, numerous lockers, ladder gantries and (in France) dual one man hose carts. Some had front mounted pumps, but they usually however had smaller water tanks around 1200 to 2000 liters.
Added by Rob Johnson on 05 February 2023.
I have read that the MDU's were the most useful vehicles in the NFS fleet often quelling fires with no recourse to hydrants. Hence the adoption of their specification as water tenders post war. I often wonder what the many pre war pumps with no water did when they arrived at a fire with no source of water supply. Watch it burn I guess.
Added by CraigW on 09 April 2023.
Added by CraigW on 09 April 2023.
I think that before WWII there were still a lot of horses in daily use, so horse troughs and the ubiquitous duck ponds provided many more open water sources than we are used to nowadays.
Added by Rob Johnson on 09 April 2023.
Added by Rob Johnson on 09 April 2023.
Dodge
Not to keep you madly pounding away on your computor key-board; but.....
What equipment and crew, did this truck carry ?
I think I see a separate Pump engine at the rear....
Picture 10491 has already quite some information in the Posts, from you and the other Informed Readers, on these units....
BTW, on Training Night out here, in rural Canada; our Pumper/Tanker's are fitted out, as direct descendants of all that was learned from these various war-time units.....
So, keep up "the good gen".
Regards, from Canada,
Pat_R-B
Added by Pat Rivers-Bowerman on 08 September 2008.