In the second world war Jack was chief fire officer based at Birmingham uk, he held a warrant card to enter any property where he felt life was in danger , lights left on etc, the police would at times wake him at night to enter a property when they needed to get in, he often spoke of the time that a whole street of houses in birmingham was on fire , he helped to get everyone out and they lay on mattreses in the middle of the street while the fires raged around them, the water had run dry so all they could do was watch the houses burn, as poor as people were these were their homes, Jack owned a three story house and had his windows and fireplace blown out by the bombs, they had to put lino , (which today we know as cushion floor ) up to cover the windows, then the next night that was blown away as well by bombs, and so it continued, eventualy Jack entered the mining industry , althought he was older he was known as a bevan boy, and has the badge , he was invited in later years to the beven boys reunion but sadly was much too ill to attend, it was a sad day when i had to inform them that Jack had passed away ,