Sir Frederick William Delve, (28 October 1902 - 2 October 1995), was an English firefighter who became

chief fire officer Chief fire officer (CFO), formerly often just chief officer, is the highest rank in the fire and rescue services of the United Kingdom. There are currently 50 chief fire officers serving in the United Kingdom in charge of the local authority fire ...

of the London Fire Brigade from 1948 to 1962, and was instrumental in the fire service's adoption of modern telecommunications technologies.

Early life

Delve was born in Brighton, the son of a tailor, and joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

on his 16th birthday in 1918, working as a wireless telegraphist in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

, an experience which spawned his enthusiasm for modern telecommunications. In 1922 Delve he left the Navy and joined the Brighton Fire Brigade.

Fire service

By 1929, aged 27, he had been promoted to the rank of Second Officer, the youngest in Britain. In 1934, he moved to the

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

Fire Brigade as Chief Officer, leading its installation of radio telecommunications between all

fire appliance A firefighting apparatus describes any vehicle that has been customized for use during firefighting operations. These vehicles are highly customized depending on their needs and the duty they will be performing. These duties can include firefighti ...

s and headquarters, and supervising the brigade's deployment at the fire which destroyed

the Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibitors from around th ...

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in November 1936. In 1937, with

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

looming, Delve served on a Home Office committee advising on changes to Britain's fire service. Its recommendations were implemented following the

Fire Brigades Act 1938 The Fire Brigades Act 1938 (in force until 1941, repealed 1947) was the primary legislation for Great Britain, excluding London, that placed responsibility for the provision of a fire brigade onto the local authority, and away from the insurance c ...

, which established the

Auxiliary Fire Service The Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) was first formed in 1938 in Great Britain as part of the Civil Defence Service. Its role was to supplement the work of brigades at local level. The Auxiliary Fire Service and the local brigades were superseded ...

and admitted women to fire brigades. During the war he was appointed Deputy Inspector-in-Chief of Fire Services, advising on fire support needs and helping to establish the National Fire Service in 1941 (in January 1941, he was awarded the

King's Police and Fire Services Medal The King's Police Medal (KPM) is awarded to police in the United Kingdom for gallantry or distinguished service. It was also formerly awarded within the wider British Empire, including Commonwealth countries, most of which now have their own hono ...

, 'for gallantry'). He was then appointed Chief Officer of No 5 Region (covering the London area), in which role he extended use of radio communications in fire vessels along the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

, and was also an adviser on fire bombing.

Chief officer of London Fire Brigade

After the war, Delve was appointed Chief Officer of the reconstituted London Fire Brigade in 1948. Challenges included provision of fire services to tower blocks and to traffic accidents, and the movement of hazardous materials across the capital (in 1958, Delve produced a report, ''Fireman's Handbook of Hazardous Industries'', published by London County Council). Under his leadership, street-based fire alarms were replaced by the '

999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Books * ''999'' (anthology) or ''999: T ...

' system (first introduced in central London in 1937), fire appliances were modernised and fire stations rebuilt. Major fires in Covent Garden market (1949 and 1954), the

Goodge Street Goodge Street is a London Underground station on Tottenham Court Road in Fitzrovia, in the London Borough of Camden. It is on the Northern line's Charing Cross branch between Warren Street and Tottenham Court Road stations, and is in Tra ...

deep tunnels (1956), and Smithfield meat market basement (1958 - during which two firemen died) led to changes in procedures relating to breathing apparatus. Delve and his deputy and successor, Leslie Leete, proposed control procedures that eventually became national policy, and also recommended the fitting of warning devices to breathing apparatus so that users were alerted when their oxygen supplies were running low. Having been awarded CBE in 1942, Delve was the first LFB chief to be knighted in office, in the 1962 Birthday Honours. After his 1962 retirement, he joined the board of

Securicor Securicor plc was one of the United Kingdom's largest security businesses. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but merged with Group 4 Falck in 2004. History The Company was founded by Edward Shortt, a former Liberal Cabinet Ministe ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delve, Sir Frederick 1902 births 1995 deaths People from Brighton London Fire Brigade personnel