I am now in my nineties and have been receiving my fire service pension for a little longer than I served. I joined the then County Borough of Bootle Fire Brigade in 1949 on my demobilisation from the army. I later served with the Cheshire Fire Brigade and finally with the Merseyside Metropolitan County Fire Brigade. I retired from the Merseyside Fire Brigade after eight years as its Chief Fire Officer.

After my retirement I did some consultancy work for the Ministry of Defence and in a number of fire-related legal cases. I also served the fire service charity, the Fire Services Benevolent Fund.

I proposed for my Fellowship a study of the Japanese fire service, simply because so little was known here of its methods and organisation, yet it was clearly very large, and obviously very different.

I visited the fire brigades of Tokyo, Osaka and with Kawasaki. All were outstandingly helpful. In short, my findings were that whilst we concentrated on the fighting of fire once it has occurred, the Japanese put their main effort into the prevention of the fire occurring in the first place. I lectured at the Fire Service Staff College on my findings, right up to my retirement.