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

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

who became

chief fire officer Chief fire officer (CFO), formerly often just chief officer or county fire 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 t ...

of the

London Fire Brigade The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the Fire department, fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 90), under the leadership of superintendent ...

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

Early life

Delve was born in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, the son of a tailor, and joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

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

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

fire appliance A firefighting apparatus (North American English) or firefighting appliance (UK English) describes any vehicle that has been customized for use during firefighting operations. These vehicles are highly customized depending on their needs and the d ...

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 ...

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in November 1936. In 1937, with

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

looming, Delve served on a

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committee advising on changes to Britain's fire service. Its recommendations were implemented following the Fire Brigades Act 1938 ( 1 & 2 Geo. 6. c. 72), 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 The National Fire Service (NFS) was the single fire service created in Great Britain in 1941 during the Second World War; a separate National Fire Service (Northern Ireland) was created in 1942. History The NFS was created in August 1941 by t ...

in 1941 (in January 1941, he was awarded the King's Police and Fire Services Medal, '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 The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

, 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 Media Books * 999 (anthology), ''99 ...

' system (first introduced in central London in 1937), fire appliances were modernised and fire stations rebuilt. Major fires in

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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 Charing Cross branch of the Northern line between Warren Street and Tottenham Court Road stations, and is locat ...

deep tunnels (1956), and Smithfield meat market basement (1958 - during which two firemen died) led to changes in procedures relating to

breathing apparatus A breathing apparatus or breathing set is equipment which allows a person to breathe in a hostile environment where breathing would otherwise be impossible, difficult, harmful, or hazardous, or assists a person to breathe. A respirator, medical v ...

. 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 The Queen's Birthday Honours 1962 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made "on the oc ...

. 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 Minis ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delve, Sir Frederick 1902 births 1995 deaths People from Brighton Chief Officers of the London Fire Brigade London Fire Brigade personnel Commanders_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire