His influence increased as time went on, particularly during wartime. We have already covered his heroics in the aftermath of the bombing of his school but this was not the first time he made a contribution to the war effort.
At the outbreak of war Gordon was made leading fireman of the Long Marston Auxiliary Fire Service with Duncan Mead, Sid Stevens, Ray Pheasant, Dick Green and George and Freddy Chandler. They were provided with a pump trailer towed by an Austin saloon car the roof of which supported the ladders and spare hoses.
As well as dealing with any local fires the team stood-by at Berkhamsted one night a fortnight while the regular firemen supported their colleagues in London during the Blitz. Gordon was also the air raid warden, distributing gas masks to the villagers.
He was also responsible for billeting the 100 or so children evacuated from London.
This information has been obtained from an archive created by Gordon’s son Peter and kindly provided for us by Colin Moore, editor of Village News. Further work is now under way to reproduce more content for the website from this archive.
