Green Goddess TNT truckcare film PGW160

A training film for Bedford Green Goddess fire pumps including the Coventry Climax featherweight pump.
This is an elderly video, and the quality is not the best, however it's fascinating to any GG owner.

[@KevinBower-gy5be]

The truck was originally designed and built as a mobile pump, not a fire appliance - hence the mega-quality pumps fitted to these. They were designed to draw water from lakes, rivers or other large supplies in the event of major fires caused by war. They could be linked together in a long daisy-chain (over several miles if needed) to get water from pretty much anywhere to anywhere else. Brilliant for its time.

[@gunner678]

Kevin Bower fantastic kit for its day. Surprisingly, when we needed fire engines for KFOR, the MOD kept the old goddesses in UK and bought old dutch Mercedes Fire trucks for the defence fire service to man and shipped them to kosovo, where they were in constant use. Ironically due to her ability to pump water from source, it would have been excellent as the Pristina area relied predominantly on wells. So although the new (old) engines were great, they lost so much time in returning to base to fill up as the mains supply was pretty well non existant for most of the time.

[@davidk3729]

I was a member of the auxiliary fire service at Wallasey from 1956 to 1958 when the powers that be disbanded the Civil Defence Corps. Still remember the registration numbers of the two we had there. NYV 135 and NYV 136. Trained at weekends at the docks and attended schemes at Moreton in Marsh, Gloucestershire. The regulars considered us a bit of a nuisance, in the way and playing at it but were happy to see us helping out at at Buchanan's grain mill fire. With a mad driver at the wheel I can tell you it well exceeded 50mph downhill with a following wind. Scary!

[@davidk3729]

Correction. Civil Defence disbanded in 1968.

[@johnbratley6926]

I was a plod at the time of the grain mill fire, Birkenhead's AFS pumps were there too. I thought they were manned by the local brigades to release their pumps back to their home stations.

[@gunner678]

They are a capable appliance but limited in application. During the Kosovo op planning phase, these were considered for use in the absence of any workable appliances in Pristina. Eventually due to the road conditions we went for the Defence Fire Service equipped with several used Dutch mercedes appliances. They did a superb job. I don't think the old goddess could have stayed upright on the truly horrible road system.

[@rickbarkley3617]

My Greatdad was a firefighter in the 1950's in a factory in Warrington he drive Bedford Green Goddess, my dream is to drive one like my grandad did back then.

[@sappersteve1443]

Judging by the vehicles; this was produced after the first Fireman's strike in 1977, as the vehicles have blue lights and indicators fitted. I remember travelling from Maidstone on the back of a Bedford(bloody freezing) to a storage warehouse in Birmingham to collect a load. They had trafficators; one stop light, and a bell.When they were started, all you could smell was the dust on the window heater element burning! Incidentally, there were also rows of brand new Austin Gypsy's on axle stands with trailer mounted Coventry Climax pumps and 46 miles on the clock. Apparently, the Government had warehouses like this all over the country, just in case; but sadly, all of them are now gone apart from Bicester which itself is much smaller than it used to be?

[@PaulieMac77]

They maybe old as the hills but I'd still love one they are neat

[@Tauraco00]

Love it❤ have 1 on my model railway

[@steveh5005]

I can guarantee these Green Godesses are up to the task. Basic wagon. When with crew and full of water it rolled a lot and lacked power. Double clutch to change gear with revs. And brake with care. Used them in the fireman strike in 70s

[@gunner678]

Maximus H me too, although more on the sidelines fetching and carrying, boy soldier back then! I remember a few of these rolling due to the lack of baffles in the water tank, even a few deaths in some units....i seem to remember REME retrofitting rubber bladders as tank liners....does that ring a bell?

[@cliffbird5016]

was fun driving on the pavements in London to get around traffic lol. Police riders told us to get on the pavment and drive as fast as possible. Yeah right flat out 40mph lol. My crew was 1st to be called out and the last to be out when the strike ended. We were stuck at east India docks dealing with a flour silo that was in flames for 2 weeks. The fire brigade saw we were struggling with it as u cant use water on a flour fire so they called off the strike and sent their crews over to help us out. 1 thing i noticed was most of the fires we went too were deralict buildings with a fire station within sight of the fire. Xmas was fun though as we dealt with a fire at a strip club in soho and the strippers came and put a show on for us on xmas day. I shouldnt of watched the show as i was 17 at the time but the oficers didnt care and told me to get in there and have some fun. We covered all of central London with 6 engines that is usualy covered by about 20 fire stations. No blue lights no sirens when we got r goddesses they were fitted during the strike. All we could do till they were fitted was sound the horn and ring the bell that was on top of the cab and flash the headlights. Front seat passenger had to operate the windscreen wipers as they were controlled by a lever that had to be manualy turned to get the wipers to move. So it was turn 1 way then turn the other way continoiusly to keep the wipers moving. the guy behind the front passanger seat had to put his hand through a hole in the roof to pull the rope to ring the bell. We were on the go 24/7 for months during the strike. we were lucky to get 4 hrs sleep a week. 1 crew was on full alert fully dressed ready to go at all times. 2nd crew would be on standby fully dressed but more relaxed as they could have a nap if they needed it. the 3rd crew was on standby but didnt have to be fully dressed but have the gear nearby. 4th crew on standby as well but could sleep. the other 2 crews could leave the station and go look around the shops but not go beyond the sight of the base so we could rush back if the other engines were called out. then after crew 1 was called out the next crews moved up the standby list and when the 1st crew got back it was shower and rest till called out again. Usualy we were getting called out every 20 mins. Hence very little sleep. None of us were fully trained soldiers as we were all still in basic training at Woolwich. we didnt even see the goddess or train on them till we got to r base at the honurable artillery company HQ in central London. We had 6 hrs to get to find out how they worked and what equipment was on them and how to use them before we got called out. we only had 1 weeks fire fighting training before we headed off to r base for the strike. Most of us were teenage kids think the oldest was 20 the youngest was 16. From what we were told we dealt with twice as many fires than any other base with half the engines other areas had. Most of us collapsed from exhuastion within the 1st week so the officers were giving us little white pills to keep us awake and getting on with the job. 3 engines were tied up at east india docks for 2 weeks leaving 3 to cover the rest of London. another base did send in engines to give r guys a rest for a few hrs every day though during those 2 weeks. maybe if we had 12 crews with 6 engines we might of been able to deal with things better as more rest time. But even 6 engines was not enough as some days we had all 6 out on calls at the same time and when we finished with 1 fire went straight to another. we went through 3 days of not even getting back to base it was from 1 fire to another. No sleep no food nothing for 3 days. What did we get for it? a certifacte saying green goddess riders 1977. No medals no thanks or anything. we had sweat shirts with green goddess riders on as well but we had to pay for them lol. They handed them out and stopped the cost of it out of r pay we were not even given the option of if we wanted them or not. We didnt even get extra pay for it. get sent to Ireland or Germany u get paid more for over seas service but nope nothing extra for putting r lives on the line to save others. I dont regret doing what we did but a thank you would of been nice. or a medal or something. Took me 5 years fighting to get a medal i should of got as standard for doing a tour of N.Ireland. Got wounded there in an IRA car bomb in 1980 given a medical discharge then called up again in 82 for the falklands war and got injured there. No medal for that. nothing in my army documents even mention me being recalled for the falklands. But nothing unusual about that cause my unit didnt exist on paper anyway. It was a need to know unit and only a small group of ppl knew what r job was. Even the CO of the regiment didnt know what my battery did or were we were when not in the barracks. Lets just say every one in my battery had green and red berries. 6 months year we trained with the royal marine commandoes and 6 months a year training with the paras. Training in the arctic or antarctic during the winter. Kuwait during the summer. Hong Kong in spring, Canada in the Autumn. Only time we were in barracks with the rest of the regiment was when we were repainting r guns for the next trip. White for artic, sand for desert and standard camoflage for hong kong and canada. Now i cant even get my army disabilty pension. Tony blair blocked that when he was PM. he stopped all my benefits when he was in power and got me thrown out of my home simply cause i was unable to work. Had to wait till a tory govt got in to get rehoused and get my benefits back. They still havnt got my army pension reinstated cause my local MP is labour and he is blocking every effort to get my pension back. and he wonders why i refuse to vote for him lol.

[@biffabeau]

@@cliffbird5016 Thanks for your service.

[@philipperiopel1911]

Wow, interesting!The best trucks we had in Montréal Canada, were the Mack's.

[@robthurlow1347]

I remember these from the highlands and islands fire brigade strike in the early 2000s I thought they were epic, i was just a kid, still are mind as very few fire engines today I belive can match their pump capacity. Unfortunately they were all demobed soon after that as the government got so many complaints about how these ancient units being used with out any regard to the fact apart from speed they were perfectly adequate for the job.

[@geoffcrabbe4323]

I remember seeing them in the early 90's hear in ulster also while a fireman strike,but sadly to try and keep some happy the mod painted them a very odd yellow ???? But good on the boys who maned them and the old green goddess for still getting on and doing a SUPER good job....

[@contactacb]

Yellow Godesses - they were always yellow in NI so as to differentiate them from Army vehicles (the 'Godesses' were all originally Civil Defence vehicles, not military/security forces vehicles). Similarly when mainland UK ambulance services adopted green into their uniforms during the 90's the NIAS adopted royal blue instead so as to bear no similarity to the then RUC whose uniforms were green.

[@g0fvt]

A friend claims the inbuilt water pumps on these appliances are exceptional, when the vehicles were built firemen did not have breathing gear so could not get so close in to the fire. Hence the need for super water pumps.

[@gunner678]

g0fvt actually it was for drawing its own water from source.....wells, lakes etc hence the need for the high powered fast pump...an amazing piece of kit, a couple of these sucked small local lakes dry backnin the days of the strike, no exageration, it became a real problem!

[@Tocsin-Bang]

I remember these in use by the AFS when I was in Civil Defence from 1964-68.

[@stevebuscombe7235]

My dad was at Torquay and Newton abbot Afs before he joined

[@stevebuscombe7235]

Sorry he joined the retained fire service in 1968 at Newton abbot done 30 years

[@Dan-vh8gq]

This looks like it was filmed in Draycot in the Clay

[@miawallace2785]

I saw a load of these at BCA Manchester with reference to John Prescott ,fire strikes and something else then they were withdrawn and not sold , the entire lot that were there

[@Fcutdlady]

No they are aren't as modern a modern Dennis/Scania/Volvo etc fire engine . They couldnt be expected to be. they were built at diffrent times . They dont carry cutting equipment or breathing apparatus for example, BUT, that bejng said if the fire brigade and thier modern vehicles are on strike and its a choice of a green goddess or nothing, give me a green goddess.

[@petersmith4455]

hi. you did not mention the fact that you should double de clutch when changing gear when changing down gear. its ok when brand new to single de clutch but wear and tear takes place qwickly.engine oil should be checked before use and water level. I had these bedfords and rls in the 1960s

[@jamesgoodwin2450]

I think most of the houses on fire burnt down by the time it got there hahahahaha

[@gunner678]

james goodwin not at all...sadly quite a few guys lost their lives in driving too fast around bends as they had a terrible habit of rolling. The boys got the job done the best they could any many will testify to that!

[@robertgibson7716]

PMSL UTTER RUBBISH ONLY GOOD FOR PUMPING