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1941 Dennis Fire Pump
This is one of only 29 high powered Dennis Fire pumps imported from Britain to New Zealand during the war.
 
During WWII, the Government followed the British example and set up a 3000-strong Emergency Fire Service to augment brigades in the major cities1. They were equipped with 1800 lpm trailer pumps, driven by a V8 Ford Mercury car motor. The Colonial Motor company produced over 1700 of these during the period between 1941 and 1945. The December 2011 K1 magazine provided a history of their development. Many were shipped overseas, but around 160 were kept in NZ. In addition to the locally produced Ford powered pumps 29 heavier and highrer powered Dennis trailer pumps were imported from Britain. After the war, many of the trailer pumps were allocated on permanent loan to volunteer fire brigades. Some rural units acquired these, and use persisted through to about the mid-1980s.

This appliance is typical of several hundred trailer pumps constructed at the beginning of the last war and issued through the British Home Office to Public, Private and Service Fire Brigades to provide emergency fire cover. They were often towed behind converted taxi’s cars and other improvised towing vehicles. 
Click the following link to see a 1941 newsreel of the pump in action

Trailer Pump Competition (1941) - YouTube
See more photographs of our pump by clicking the photo below

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