W. Harry demobbed after the war in 1946 from the Royal Air Force. The fire service at this time was impregnated with men unfit for military service, who had been evacuated to various parts of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, (annexed to Great Britain.) where they served in the Fire Service. There was In the Ammanford Service two such people from London.

During his early years Harry served in the Auxiliary Fire Service which later became the National Fire Service and known as the NFS.

So after the war when the National Fire Service was formed in1947 and the Home Office took responsibility, before later granting the responsibility to the local authorities, these two men were sent home.

Harry gained an extra two months leave with pay because he had served for four years abroad. (The Far East). During this time he was doing odd jobs such as painting and cleaning jobs. The Station Officer at this time was Harry's first cousin Dai Jones and he came down to his house one night. He said that two of his men are finishing and it so happens they are going back to London, so I'm short of two men now. So he coaxed me (I was living in Heol Las then) and the fire station was to the rear of the old CWS store later to become the “Pick and Shovel,” and that is where I started my career in 1947.

When I joined, the station officer said, “Because I was a corporal in the forces, and you can handle men, I'd be glad to have you.” And one thing lead to another. Now Asda was in the part timers in those days Asda Rees, and Andel Fowler well we started off there, and of course I had heavy goods as I was a Driver Mechanic in the Air Force, (a little chuckle) and I taught boys to drive the Fire Engine.

One I taught was Benny Williams. Believe you me on one occasion, without authority, he thought he could this, and he could that, but he had no authority to drive the fire engine nowhere, and not unless accompanied by a competent instructor, because he hadn't passed his test and he'd have to go to Carmarthen to do this.

On this occasion they got on, and Harry bach (speaking about himself) was a bit late coming in and it so happens that a lot of the boys were in the pick at the time and instead of waiting for me to arrive, Leading Fireman ????? and Benny drove the machine up towards the Square and into College Street much to fast, and the swirl of the water in the tank tipped the fire engine onto its side, (Harry chuckles as he tells the story) into the Veranda. (There was a Veranda there in those days).

Fortunately no one was badly injured and on righting the vehicle onto its four wheels (this was with the assistance of bystanders) it was able to proceed to respond to the address of the fire call none the worse for the accident.

The rollicking that was after that was nobody's business, either Dai Jones or somebody had to take charge of it. That was Benny's first accident.

His second was on his way in…he was knocked off his bike by a car while bicycling into a call. Harry tells a harrowing account, which is made the more intense by bad management of which the service has, more than its fair share of. Harry is very emotional by the time he returns to his wife at the end of this ordeal having been chastised by Stn O Coggins.

Here is Harry's account - Stn O Coggins reported me for delaying the attendance of the fire engine. But I was later vindicated anyway. In fact the boys in the station was playing hell in the way I was shouted at, at the scene by Coggins.

But the fact is that it was one of our own boys, Benny bach. Harry doesn't remember the call they were going to but as he says if it was an important call he would have sent them on without himself. A suspected chimney fire in Saron, he later seems to recall, if it were serious I would have sent them on as we are trained to deal with. But to have the station officer call you names in front of all the boys and members of the public was hard. (We go on to talk about the Chief Officer Gerald Jones and the Deputy Chief Penry Jones) they both came up one drill night and I had to go in to see them. They told me that I acted properly and commended me on my actions. I was told that there would be an apology coming from the station officer in front of the men. I was told to relieve station officer Coggins from parade and send him to them.

Later on in the night the station officer called us all together and he gave me a personal apology. It was wonderful to have a personal apology from him in front of all the boys.

We dealt with many calls of distress. Annually there was a flooding problem in Pontamman, where the local Post Office was under the management of a Mr. Walters, along with other cottages nearby, were flooded with the overflow of water from the River Amman nearby.

At the same time flooding also took place in Maesquarre Road, where Nant Y Ffin, a brook made famous by Donald Peers rendering of the song “By the Babbling Brook,” was the scene of pumping water out of homes and clearing up the mess caused by the water. An experience that also affected him. See story below.

On another occasion I requested the attendance of a second appliance whilst attending a fire at Aberlash. Our second turnout never arrived. In proceeding to the fire ground, the driver of the second machine forgot he had extension ladders on the roof of the appliance, and drove under the railway bridge at Aberlash Road, causing the appliance to become stuck under the bridge. Fortunately, a crew from the Llandeilo fire station came to our assistance and we were able to deal with the incident efficiently.

In November 1961, I was honoured to be chosen to represent the County Fire Brigade at the Cenotaph Parade in Whitehall, London, and was introduced to the then, Home Secretary Mr. Butler, and a senior member of the Royal Family.

During my period of service I trained and captained the Ammanford Fire Station Team competing in the Annual Fire Brigade for the Award Shield for the most Efficient Fire Station, and Team Competency Tests, held at Brigade Headquarters. It was an honour that our station fully deserved.

On my retirement due to ill health in 1967, I was again honoured to be presented with a farewell gift of a Wall Barometer and Temperature gauge by the personnel of Station 5 Ammanford, which was presented to me at a function held at the Plough and Harrow hotel in Betws Road.

Ultimately I received the Award of Long Service Medal, presented by the Chief Fire Officer D. Gerald Jones. BSc.