"Amateurs," A.R.P. System Criticised IR raid precaution measures in England may be strongly influenced by past experiences in Shanghai, if the amount of interest being paid in Home fire circles to what a former and a present Chief Fire Officer of the Shanghai Fire Brigade have to say is any criterion.
An important paper on the subject of "How to train A.R.P. auxiliaries" recently appeared in "Fire," the official organ of the British Fire Service, under the name of Mr. M. W. Pett (who retired from his position of Chief Fire Officer in Shanghai a few years ago), while a great deal of interest was paid to the remarks of Captain J. Gordon Dyson, the present Chief Fire Officer, at the annual luncheon of the National Fire Brigades Association M Londom.
Both Mr. Pett and Captain Dyson were loud in their praises of the Shanghai volunteer fireman, who was seldom heard of but who fitted in with the professional ability.
"When I became the first stipendiary fire chief at Shanghai," said Mr. Pett, "I had about 100 volunteers—and not one professional—and I found them splendid, These Shanghai volunteers behaved at all times in a manner equal to a well-trained professional fire brigade, and they not only won my admiration, but that of all who came into contact with them, whether at fires or at any other time."
Said Captain Dyson:—*We in Shanghai found that we could work well with Frenhe and Chinese fire-fighters. We worked as brothers, and not as strangers."
"I have nothing but admiration for the Chinese firemen, with their pumps covered with nets, as camoufage against enemy attacks, workin calmly with bombs and shells ex ploding around them (applause).
"The Chinese personnel of the Shanghai Fire Brigade was splendid, and so were the European volunteers who assisted us. Their behaviour
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.