Cyril Demarne
Cyril Demarne OBE | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 7 February 1905 Poplar, London, United Kingdom |
| Died | 28 January 2007 (aged 101) |
| Occupation(s) | British wartime firefighter Author |
| Spouse | Alice Blanche |
| Children | Two daughters; Josephine and Marji |
Cyril Thomas Demarne,
Early life
Demarne was born in Poplar, London, the eldest of three sons and two daughters of a City clerk; when his father lost his job through illness, the family's living standards suffered: "Sometimes we sat in the dark, for there was no penny for the gas."
He joined the West Ham Fire Brigade in 1925 and was a Sub-Officer instructing the Auxiliary Fire Service when war was declared.
World War II
He spent the period from September 1940 to May 1941 serving in West Ham,[2] one of the most heavily bombed areas in the country.[3]
The first day of
The first raid was followed by 57 consecutive nights of bombing; after one night off, when the German aircraft were hampered by bad weather, the air raids resumed until 10 May 1941.
Demarne was appointed Company Officer at Whitechapel in October 1941, in the new National Fire Service.[2] He was twice promoted in 1943. In January 1944, as Divisional Officer, he was transferred back to West Ham in time for the "Baby" Blitz and flying bomb attacks.[3]
He described how one night in Forest Gate a bus laden with people going home from work was hit. "The top of the bus was completely gone with the remains of the passengers scattered over nearby houses. The passengers on the lower deck had all been decapitated but were sitting in their seats "as if waiting to have their fares collected. It was the most horrific thing I witnessed".[3] He was transferred again to the City and Central London in November 1944, where he was involved in three of the most deadly V-2 rocket attacks, in which more than three hundred people were killed.[2]
Post-war career
After two years service in the
He retired from the Fire Service in 1955 and moved to Australia, where he became Senior Instructor of the Fire Service Training School at
In retirement
He published his memoirs of his wartime service in The London Blitz – A Fireman's Tale in 1980, followed by Our Girls – A Story of the Nation's Wartime Firewomen (1995). He also contributed to The Blitz Then and Now series of books, published in 1987, and The East End Then and Now (1997). He appeared in several television documentaries on the war[2] and also in the Humphrey Jennings film Fires Were Started.
He had the idea of raising a memorial to the
Demarne was married in 1930. His wife died in 1986. He is survived by two daughters.[2]
References
- ^ Our East End: Memories of a Disappearing Britain, Piers Dudgeon, Hachette, 2008, Chapter Four- Behind the Scenes, p. 3
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Obituary, The Times, 15 February 2007
- ^ ISBN 0-900913-67-3.
- ^ a b Young, Robert (8 September 2000). Blitz survivors mark 60 years after bombing. London.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Blitz Firebrigade Memorial[permanent dead link]
- ^ Firefighters Memorial Charitable Trust
External links
- In Memoriam
- Recording of Cyril Demarne recalling VE Day, at the Museum of London
- Village Voice report