Apparatus Gallery

LCC-LFB changeover from brass to cork fire helmets

Two firemen in the foreground wearing new style cork helmets and Proto Mark IV breathing apparatus sets. The man on the right is from Station 34, Shadwell, whilst the man on the left is from Station 4, Chelsea. In the background are London firefighters still wearing the old style brass helmet. The new style cork helmet was gradually being phased in

© London Fire Brigade / Mary Evans Picture Library

LFCDA-LFB Heavy fire Rescue tenders

The 1990s saw a new breed of fire rescue tenders, large and small, introduced into the London Fire Brigade. The heavy rescue unit carried a comprehensive range of cutting and spreading equipment, a larger crew, breathing apparatus and chemical protection suits. The light unit, whilst having lifting and spreading equipment, did not have the same scoop of equipment and carried a smaller crew. The picture shows the open compartments on one side of a heavy rescue unit

© London Fire Brigade / Mary Evans Picture Library

Dr J D Cockcroft listening for atomic disintegration

Dr John D Cockcroft listening for sounds indicating atomic disintegration brought about by the bombardment with high-velocity protons of the lithium nucleus, which appears to break up into two helium nuclei. Physicists Cockcroft and E T S Walton developed the Cockcroft-Walton accelerator to artificially accelerate atomic particles to high energies, to enable them to observe the results of splitting the atom

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans