Sheffield Gales, 16th February 1962.
Part One - The Gales hit and the
Civil Defence Response.
Sheffield aenemograph (wind speed) readings for 16th February 1962
from Met Office report (see below).
The highest recorded wind speed in Britain that day was at Lowther Hill in Lanarkshire, Scotland at 116 miles per hour (1186.6 kph) and it the much more heavily built-up area around Sheffield it reached 97 miles per hour (156 kph) just after 6.00am.
The storm hit Sheffield at about 4.00am, peaked between 6.00am and 7.30am and didn't subside until after 5.00pm.
Whilst
Britain was battered by gale force winds, the weather conditions caused
a storm surge in the North Sea, flooding parts of the Netherlands and
Germany and causing 315 deaths in Hamburg.
As reports of damage from the gales on Friday, 16th
February, Sheffield Town Hall became a centre of operations for the
local authority. The Council appealed to employers to release Civil
Defence (CD) members to aid council workers
dealing with dangerous properties and to set up emergency rest centres
in schools and church halls. Soldiers from the local Territorial
Army (TA) units were put under CD direction. Local builders suspended
Union rules and worked overtime and did one another’s
jobs to help with the crisis. Fireman were voluntarily doing double
shifts and the CD headquarters staff took emergency telephone calls to
relieve the overwhelmed fire station switchboard.
Three months earlier, a Joint exercise for the CD
& TA had been planned for that weekend, at the CD HQ “Exercise
Lifeline” suddenly became “Operation Lifeline”. Two CD units arrived
from Gainsborough and reinforcements were provided by
Lindsey Division as well. CD Rescue Sections and TA soldiers were
deployed and the CD Officer, MR. A.L. Dawson MBE , said that “very few
pictures were taken of the Rescue teams in action, partly because they
were scattered throughout the city and, also because
they were far more interested in getting the jobs done than seeking
publicity”. CD and Fire Service units were struggling to find enough
ladders and tarpaulins to carry out essential repairs. The Rescue work
was extensive, dealing with collapsed gable ends,
chimneys and roofs, some of which had trapped people in their homes.
After this work was done, they moved onto the tasks of demolition,
shoring up and rendering buildings safe. The damage was much like that
expected after an air attack and, in fact, “Just
Like The Blitz” was an often heard comment.
The Sheffield Civil Defence Officer, MR. A.L. Dawson MBE , provided his log of events over the weekend of 16th-19th February 1962 to “Civil Defence” magazine:
They show the details of a real-life operation in
progress and show how the things learnt through CD training exercises
fell into place during a real emergency.
FRIDAY, 16th FEBRUARY
0735 hours – The Deputy Chief Fire Officer
informed the CD Officer that their switchboard was jammed with “999”
calls and asking whether it was possible to put the "C.D. Operational Plan for Peacetime Emergencies" into operation.
This was done immediately and the covering approval of the Town Clerk
obtained as soon as he could be contacted.
0900 hours – Volunteers in Headquarters, Rescue and
Welfare Sections had been called out and an Emergency Operational
Control set up at C.D. Headquarters. "999" calls were taken on behalf of
the Fire Service. They were logged and plotted
on a
situation map and sorted for priority and district.
0930 hours.—Two rescue parties were out dealing with dangerous chimneys, roofs, coping stones, etc. The gale was still blowing and the work was extremely dangerous. Priority was given to cases where there were bed-ridden invalids in bedrooms underneath dangerous chimneys, etc
1200 hours onwards.—Through press reports of the
extent of damage, volunteers kept arriving at C.D. Headquarters and
Rescue were put to work. Quite a lot had to be refused work, either
because they hadn't the necessary skill or because
of an acute shortage of ladders.
1800 hours.— Although the
wind was still blowing at gale force, 8 rescue parties were now
operating. Two Rest Centres had been opened by the Social Care
Department and members of the Welfare Section along with the
W.V.S. were helping to care for the 180 homeless.
2300 hours – The Deputy CD Officer was interviewed in a special programme on I.T.V.2315 hours.—The last rescue
party came off duty. Throughout the day there was a severe shortage of
ladders, and particularly roof ladders which C.D. Rescue Parties do not
normally carry. This handicapped operations
and reduced the number of rescue parties we could use.
SATURDAY 17TH FEBRUARY
0800 Hours to 2100 Hours – Operations continued all day. Altogether about 200 CD volunteers being employed, mostly
Rescue, Welfare and Headquarters Section members . Two broadcasts
were made on B.B.C. radio by the C.D. Officer. Reinforcements from
Lincolnshire (Lindsey) C.D. Division arrived with
extra supplies of ladders and other equipment which were in short
supply locally. The Hallamshire Battalion (T.A.) York and Lancaster
Regiment came in to support. Three months earlier a combined C.D./ Army
Exercise had been arranged to take place this
weekend.
The official aim of this
Exercise "Lifeline" was "to practice the 'Hallams' in deployment in
support of the Civil Authorities in the event of an emergency"
The C.O. was told that the exercise would have to be cancelled,
but would he come in on the real thing? He agreed to do so and Operation
"Lifeline" was born
From the Star special "Hurricane" edition via the Sheffield History forum. .
SUNDAY, 18TH FEBRUARY
0900 hours onwards.—Six Sheffield C.D. Rescue Parties and several Hallamshire Battalion Rescue Parties were deployed.
Reinforcements from Lindsey CDC division chat with the Minister of Housing and Local Government.From Civil Defence magazine Vol. 14 No.4 April 1962
1000 hours.—More reinforcements from the Lincolnshire (Lindsey) Division arrived, coming from such places as Mablethorpe, Alford, Horncastle, Gainsborough and Woodhall Spa, up to 90 miles away. They had concentrated at 0400 hours to move into Sheffield. Local Boy Scouts were used to guide them round the City.
1030 hours.—Twelve C.D. Rescue Parties were operating now.
1200 hours.—The Minister of Housing and Local Government, Dr. Charles Hill, and the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Mr. George Brown, were at a Conference in the Town Hall. Immediately afterwards they toured the City and visited C.D. Headquarters where about 100 volunteers were having an emergency meal. The Minister spoke to them and congratulated them on the wonderful job they were doing.
1600 hours.—The C.D. Officer was informed that the B.B.C. Panorama team was coming to Sheffield to cover the emergency and that they would like to operate from C.D.H.Q., where there would be a live broadcast on Monday night.
2130 hours.—Owing to the diffculties working on dangerous roofs in the dark, all Rescue Parties were withdrawn.
MONDAY, 19TH FEBRUARY
WVS rest centre at Hurfield school. From llustrated London News - Saturday 24 February 1962
All day.— Most volunteers back at their normal work, but the Welfare
Section still helping with the care of the homeless in 2 Rest Centres.
Panorama team arrived at C.D.H.Q. to prepare for the evening broadcast.
1700 hours onwards.—Two Sheffield rescue parties operating, having come
in after their normal work. One of these parties was featured in the
live Panorama broadcast.
TUESDAY, 20TH FEBRUARY
General mopping up operations. Two Rescue Parties operating all day. Welfare Section still assisting the homeless.
WEDNESDAY, 21ST FEBRUARY
Ditto
Preparations now being made for another combined operation over the
weekend, in a final effort to make safe all the remaining damaged
buildings. Reinforcements have been promised from other C.D. Divisions.
At the time of writing nearly 1,000 damaged properties have been made safe by the C.D. Rescue Parties assisted by the Territorial Army.
More in Sheffield Gales, 16th February 1962. Part Two - The Aftermath.
SOURCES:
(1) The Star special "Hurricane" edition via the Sheffield History forum.
(2) Civil Defence magazine Vol. 14 No.4 April 1962
(3) Met Office report for 16th February 1962
