The Civil Defence Corps and the Floods of 1960 - Part Two, Winter.
3rd - 11th Dec. Newtown, Montgomeryshire
During this spate of heavy rainfall, nearly 8% of all the houses and premises in the County of Montgomeryshire were flooded. Newtown and the surrounding area were seriously affected with many houses partially underwater for eight days. During this period, emergency feeding was provided by the Welfare Section of the Montgomeryshire Division of the Civil Defence Corps. A field kitchen was set up near Pool Quay railway station, under a large tarpaulin supplied by a Welshpool firm. In many cases, food had to be delivered by boat. Meals were also provided for the volunteers (many from The Young Farmers Club and British Red Cross Society) who came to help with the mopping up operations.
The County C.D. Officer reported that, had he not overturned a reconnaissance landrover in a submerged ditch, the entire operation would have been without a hitch.
There is some film of flooding in Newtown form The British Film Institute available here
3rd - 5th Dec. Hereford.
Civil Defence in Herefordshire was concentrated heavily towards the Welfare Section as it was one of the evacuation plan Reception Areas. Whilst all the other C.D. sections were available in the county, for most emergencies, the C.D.C. were low of the the “call-out list”.
On the night of the 4th December 1960, the River Wye rose to 19 foot six inches (6 metres) which was the highest since records began (This level was only beaten by the floods of 2019). The older part of the city is above the river but the suburbs and surrounding villages were inundated, some to a depth of 7 feet (.2.15 metres). The St. Martin’s area (where around 15,000 people lived) was completely cut off from the rest of the city.
This caused problems for the Hereford C.D. as their administration block and stores were on one side of the flood and their Group Control Room was on the other. To get some of their equipment to the most affected parts of the city, normally a two mile trip, took the C.D. vehicles on a thirty mile round trip to negotiate the lowest point of the flood.. Likewise, Personnel were split with some only able to get to the stores and others to the Control room. The phone line between the two was cut temporarily but restored by the G.P.O. on Monday morning.
No request for assistance was made until 13.45 on Monday 5th December, when it was decided to evacuate the village of Hampton Bishop using a helicopter.
Soldiers from the S.A.S. building flood defences at Hampton Bishop.
Whilst waiting “for the call”, Staff at the C.C. HQ had been loading their vehicles with the bedding and utensils required for opening Rest Centres. Apparently, the Emergency Feeding equipment needed a “great deal of de-greasing”. Later on Monday, reconnaissance vehicles were sent out and a Rest Centre established.
The floods began to subside from Wednesday 7th and requests for materials to start the mopping up operations came pouring in with C.D. vehicles delivering where they could. They also took food in containers to houses that were still cut off by the water.
The Rescue sections transported sandbags to block a breach in the river bank and provided muscle and floodlighting so they and the workers of the River Board could keep at the job through the night.
Although they were called in to action very late, the Civil Defence Corps received much praise from MPs, local councils, the Womens’ Institutes and numerous individuals who all acknowledged that the training of the C.D.C. was of great value in peacetime emergencies as well as in time of war. The C.D.C. was placed higher on the “call out list” for any future incidents.
Postscript:
After doing voluntary work (mainly chopping firewood for affected families) with the C.D. during the floods, the Hereford C.D.C invited members of the Nansen Club to a Rescue Section exercise day. The club which was for senior boys & Old Boys of Hereford High School had already trained for mountain rescue in the Brecon Beacons, Snowdonia and Norway. Later in the day, several of the older boys asked to enrol in the C.D.C as the Rescue Section's work was so similar to their existing training.
4th Dec. Derbyshire
On Sunday, 4th December, Derbyshire Police requested assistance from the C.D.C. in the draining of houses and removal of furniture from areas that were flooding. Two Rescue parties from Heanor and Clay Cross were sent and by nightfall, the situation was under control.
The following day, the C.D.C was asked to help evacuate twenty-nine flooded houses in Ilkeston The fifty or so occupants were taken to the Welcome Hall which had been equipped by the Welfare section / WVS as a Rest Centre providing hot meals and overnight accommodation. With help fro the British Red Cross Society, clothing and other necessities were also available.
The R.A.F. brought several house drying units and they ran all night under floodlighting supplied by the C.D. Rescue section. They then moved from place to place continuing their drying work. The C.D. centre at Shardlow was opened up to give dormitory space and meals (via the Welfare section) for the R.A.F. personnel helping with the clean up operations over the week.
4th - 5th Dec. Cardiff & South Wales.
Double-decker bus driving through floods near Cardiff, December 1960
This link leads to a British Film Institute clip showing the flooding and damage in the Taff & Rhondda Valleys. There is a brief part, around the 5 mins 30 mark that shows AFS & Police using a “bikini”boat.
Whilst these floods are listed in the Civil Defence Volunteers Pocket Book (1962) as one of the peacetime operations of the Civil Defence Corps, I haven’t yet found much information on what they actually did in South Wales. That they definitely contributed significantly in dealing with the problem is borne out by the comments in Parliament below.
During the debate, on the flooding, in Parliament on 15th December 1960, Mr Henry Brooke MP for Hampstead and both Minister for Welsh Affairs and Minister of Housing and Local Government said:
…But, of course, when the tragedy of floods comes the local authority has to co-ordinate the relief work. I should like to pay tribute, and I know that I can do so in the name of the whole House, to local authorities and their welfare services, to the police, the fire service, the Civil Defence service, and to the Service Departments, which, in some cases, have been extremely helpful in rushing equipment to the spot, and to all voluntary organisations, the Women's Voluntary Service, first and foremost, and to many others, including the Salvation Army. Everybody who has been available has come in to help. It has been a most remarkable tribute to the resourcefulness and readiness of the British people, without many orders, to come and act in co-operation and get on with the job when there are people needing to be helped.
Sources:
Montgomeryshire Floods:
Civil Defence magazine Vol. 13 No.2 February 1961
Hansard HC Deb 15 December 1960 vol 632 cc607-70
Hereford Floods:
Photographs from Herefordshire History
Civil Defence magazine Vol. 13 No.2 February 1961
Civil Defence magazine Vol. 13 No.5 May 1961
Derbyshire Floods:
Civil Defence magazine Vol. 13 No.2 February 1961
Cardiff Floods:
Civil Defence Volunteers Pocket Book, printed by the Middlesex Division, 1962.
Hansard HC Deb 15 December 1960 vol 632 cc607-70
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