Frederick Delve

Delve was born in Brighton, the son of a tailor, and joined the Royal Navy on his 16th birthday in 1918, working as a wireless telegraphist in the Black Sea, an experience which spawned his enthusiasm for modern telecommunications.

[3] In 1937, with World War II looming, Delve served on a Home Office committee advising on changes to Britain's fire service.

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).

[5] 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.

[5] Having been awarded CBE in 1942,[6] Delve was the first LFB chief to be knighted in office, in the 1962 Birthday Honours.