NATIONAL FIRE SERVICE REGIONAL ORGANIZATION: United Kingdom. 1941-1948. Under the National Fire Service organizational structure, the United Kingdom was divided into Regions. Regions were subdivided further into Fire Areas; as an example the organization for Scotland is shown in Table 1.
Table 74-1. No. 11 (Scotland) Region Areas
| Area Designation | Headquarters | Assigned Units |
| Western Number 1 Area | Glasgow | Number 1 Fire Force |
| Western Number 2 Area | Paisley | Number 2 Fire Force |
| South Eastern Area | Edinburgh | Number 3 Fire Force |
| Eastern Area | Dundee | Number 4 Fire Force |
| North Eastern Area | Aberdeen | Number 5 Fire Force |
| Northern Area | Inverness | Number 6 Fire Force |
Within a Region resources were subdivided into five levels of units (see Table 2).
Table 74-2. Regional Units and Officers
| Unit | Composed Of | Officer/Leader |
| National Fire Service Region | several Fire Areas | Chief Regional Fire Officer |
| Fire Force (1 per Fire Area) | Fire Force Commander Assistant Fire Force Commander |
|
| Division | 2 Columns (100 Pumps) | Division Officer (1 per Division) |
| Column | 5 Companies (50 Pumps) | Column Officer (2 per
Division) Senior Company Officer (where required) |
| Company | 2 Sections (10 Pumps) | Company Officer (10 per Division) |
| Section | 5 Pumps | Section Leader (20 per Division) |
| Pump | Leading Fireman (1 per Pump) |
Notes: Each level of officer was identifiable by distinctive helmet markings.
This organizational structure established a total of 43 Fire Forces throughout the United Kingdom (see Table 3).
Table 74-3. Regions and Fire Forces
| Civil Defense Region | Regional Headquarters | Fire Force | Fire Force Headquarters |
| Northern (1) | Newcastle | 1 | Gosforth |
| 2 | Middlesbrough | ||
| North Eastern (2) | Leeds | 3 | Rotheram |
| 4 | Leeds | ||
| 5 | Bradford | ||
| 6 | Hessle | ||
| North Midland (3) | Nottingham | 7 | Derby |
| 8 | Nottingham | ||
| 9 | Leicester | ||
| 10 | Louth | ||
| Eastern (4) | Cambridge | 11 | Southend |
| 12 | Stevenage | ||
| 13 | Hethersett | ||
| London (5) | London | 34 | London (northwest) |
| 36 | London (northeast) | ||
| 37 | London (southeast) | ||
| 38 | London (southwest) | ||
| Southern (6) | Reading | 14 | Durley |
| 15 | Taplow | ||
| 16 | Lyndhurst | ||
| South Western (7) | Bristol | 17 | Bristol |
| 18 | Exeter | ||
| 19 | Yelverton | ||
| 39 | Swindon | ||
| Wales (8) | Cardiff | 20 | Llanishen |
| 21 | Sketty | ||
| 22 | Colwyn Bay | ||
| Midland (9) | Birmingham | 23 | Worcester |
| 24 | Birmingham | ||
| 25 | Stone | ||
| 40 | Wolverhampton | ||
| North Western (10) | Manchester | 26 | Liverpool |
| 27 | Cheadle | ||
| 29 | Preston | ||
| Scotland (11) | Edinburgh | 1 | Glasgow |
| 2 | Paisley | ||
| 3 | Edinburgh | ||
| 4 | Dundee | ||
| 5 | Aberdeen | ||
| 6 | Inverness | ||
| South Eastern (12) | Tunbridge Wells | 30 | Maidstone |
| 31 | Brighton | ||
| 32 | Woking |
Source: Kirkwood, Graeme, The History of Scottish Fire Brigades, location http://www.graeme.kirkwood.btinternet.co.uk/index.htm, accessed 28 July 2003. Ramsey, Winston G., editor, The Blitz: Then and Now, Volume 1, London, United Kingdom, Battle of Britain Prints International, 1987. Ramsey, Winston G., editor, The Blitz: Then and Now, Volume 3, London, United Kingdom, Battle of Britain Prints International, 1990.
Entry 0374 - updated 12 July 2003