Auxiliary Fire Service

After the war the AFS was reformed alongside the Civil Defence Corps, forming part of the UK's planned emergency response to a nuclear attack.

It was anticipated there would be some warning of the nuclear attack allowing some regular fire fighting equipment to join the AFS columns which would head to wherever they were required.

Many were trained to the St John Ambulance Higher First Aider Certificate standard – often proving invaluable at major incidents involving injury.

The Green Goddesses were used in two forms, initially a 4×2 (two-wheel drive) version based on the Bedford SHZ chassis powered by a 6-cylinder 110-brake-horsepower (82-kilowatt) Beford petrol engine, carrying 400 imperial gallons (1,800 litres) of water and a 1,000 imp gal/min (4,500 L/min) Sigmund FN4 centrifugal pump.

Their primary role was as a mobile pump, and they could combine to provide a pipe relay over great distances when connected using 6-inch (150 mm) hose, supplying 1,000 imp gal/min (4,500 L/min) from one location to another, often the seat of a major fire.

When the AFS was disbanded in 1968, the 4×2 Green Goddess units were auctioned, but the 4×4 version and Land Rovers and Austin Gipsys were mothballed against some future emergency.

Local authority fire brigades could borrow Home Office vehicles to meet exceptional needs, and 500 Green Goddesses were brought out of retirement during the drought of 1976.

The government used Army and Royal Navy personnel to man and operate fire appliances during the firemen's strikes, including Home Office equipment brought out of storage.