FIRE FIGHTING FIRE FIGHTING Councillor Cowan brought the matter to the attention of Cumnock Town Council that a fire demonstrator had attached a hose to the mains hydrant there but discovered that there was no water available, which meant that is there was an outbreak of fire there would be no water to fight it.

The demonstrator pointed out that this was dangerous as, if the fire fighting pump attempted to increase the water pressure, this would cause a vacuum in the water main which would almost certainly cause it to collapse and become useless.

Mr Cowan had been in discussions with various people to erect a tank or boiler behind one of the properties in Barrhill Road, complete with a small pump which would go into action if the water level in the tank fell below a certain level, while a valve would prevent any water escaping and running down Barrhill Road.

During the discussion it emerged that the town council had been dissatisfied with the manner in which Ayr County Council had approached the matter of fire protection for Cumnock, with the depute town clerk saying that, as far back as 1939, a scheme had been submitted to the county council for the erection of a fire engine at a cost of £2,000.

This would also include the engaging of a permanent firemaster, as well as the installation of all the necessary equipment and voluntary aid. This had been turned down on the grounds that the scheme had been considered ‘too cheap’, but in any case the letter had never been replied to.

It was agreed to send a letter containing the proposal to the county council immediately, as a comparative scheme should be considered side-by-side with a similar proposal for the Kilmarnock area, which would cover the Mauchline area. At the same time, the Scottish Home Department would be notified of the town council’s proposals.

As soon as some information had been received, a special meeting would be held to discuss the problem.

AIR-RAID EXERCISE The entire Cumnock district was subject to a heavy aerial attack days before the Chronicle was published.

Six bombing planes played havoc with public buildings, private houses, road and domestic services, bridges, and overhead electric cables. It was a full dress rehearsal of what might transpire in the event of the real thing coming our way, the paper reported.

All ARP (air raid patrols) services were on duty — wardens, decontamination, road repair, first aid and rescue squads, mobile units, nursing, medical and sanitary services, and the special and regular constabularies, with Chief Constable Munro, and Chief ARP officer Davidson in charge and observing the work in progress.

We said: “So far as we can gather, the exercises were most satisfactory and the personnel of the various units comported themselves very well indeed. Minor defects were naturally noted but, as the discovery and rectifying of these defects is the exact purpose of these recurrent trials, that is all to the good.

“Casualties were presumed to have resulted from the high explosives and gas bombs, and from the falling debris in damaged buildings, and actual victims were dealt with by the appropriate services and removed to the cleansing centres and hospitals with commendable speed.

“SOS appeals to New Cumnock, Troon, and Prestwick, were also answered and generally the semblance of reality was introduced in the numerous incidents, which the county umpires declared had taken place after the air-raid signals were given.” POOR ATTENDANCE A small turn-out greeted the appearance of Kilmarnock Burgh Military Band at Cumnock Town Hall.

We asked: “Does Cumnock not appreciate the Sunday evening concert idea? Certainly overhead conditions throughout the day had been discouraging, but it was not too bad in the evening to be an adequate excuse for the small audience which turned up to hear the band, which was playing gratis, under the Red Cross Party auspices.

“The programme was deliberately unpretentious, and contained no item which the ordinary music-lover would not be familiar with. Four Kilmarnock vocalists added to the interest of the evening’s work and we were particularly impressed with the singing of Miss Ferguson.

“A half-empty hall is quite the worst platform for any kind of band combination, and the reverberation to be anticipated under such conditions certainly called for more than usual control of the volume tone. That control, unfortunately, was not always evidenced on Sunday and at times it sounded like every man for himself.

“The results were quite often needlessly overpowering and one’s ears were sent abirling to a cacophonous welter of sound, more enthusiastic than melodic, a bigger hall, packed audience, and the sympathetic warmth of interest that these conditions usually engender, would no doubt have made the difference.”