28 March 1933 – 16 July 2025

George Clarke, a former Chief Fire Officer of Hampshire Fire Brigade, passed away on 16 July 2025, aged 92.

His career began with Lancashire Fire Brigade in 1953. By 1956 he was promoted as an Instructor at the Home Office Training Centre.

George’s rise up the promotion ladder continued within Lancashire; in 1959 Sub Officer, 1964 Station Officer, 1965 ADO, 1968 DO III and in the same year, DO I.

He moved to Wiltshire in 1971 as Deputy Chief Officer and in 1974 became Chief Fire Officer of that Brigade.

George took over as Chief Fire Officer of Hampshire Fire Brigade in 1978 and in 1982/3, was elected President of CACFOA.

In 1984, he was appointed Commandant of the Fire Service College and retired from there in 1991.

George was a well known and much respected colleague and this is just a brief resume of his long and varied fire service career.

His funeral took place on 4 August 2025.

The Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service are currently carrying out an exercise to identify any current or former on-call/retained firefighters who could be eligible for additional pension amounts through the Matthews Remedy.

This applies to ‘on-call’/’retained’ firefighters who were employed:

• Any date between 7 April 2000 to 30 June 2000 inclusive; or
• Any date between 7 April 2000 to 30 June 2000 inclusive plus any date between 1 July 2000 to 5 April 2006 inclusive; or
• Any date between 1 July 2000 to 5 April 2006 inclusive and were eligible to take part in the first options exercise but were not given the opportunity to do so 

Full details and eligibility are available on the HIWFRS website www.hantsfire.gov.uk/matthews-pensions-remedy/.

This is a very genuine opportunity open to particular group of on-call/retained firefighters and could involve life-changing income for those eligible. There is the need to buy-back pension contributions, but all of this may be taken from the amount potentially owed and open up possible back-payment to the individual and an ongoing firefighter pension scheme.

There has been some coverage by the BBC and Moneybox recently
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn5k5gykvklo

There is also a Fire and Rescue Service Association (previously known as the Retained Firefighters Union) podcast involving a Local Government Association senior firefighter pension advisor here: Second Options Exercise Walk-Through

Our advice is that all those who served in the periods shown above would be wise to consider what it may mean for them and to register interest for more detail/consideration.

This is a very real and genuine opportunity which may be simply missed by colleagues not realising they were/are eligible. Some may have applied before and rejected and it may be prudent to consider the options again, as they have increased in number.

Two Oxfordshire firefighters and a member of the public lost their lives in a large fire at the former RAF Bicester site. Our sincere condolences go out to their families, friends and colleagues at this sad and difficult time.

Our heartfelt thoughts are also with the families of the firefighters who suffered serious injuries at the incident.

The Firefighters Memorial Trust is pleased to relaunch its Book of Remembrance, in tribute to those members of the fire service who have died in the course of their duties, following a period of absence due to the original online hosting company
ceasing trading.

Our new version of the book is still in the process of being built but that process has reached the point when we can once again remember and pay tribute to those we seek to honour.

Further work will in due course permit us to once again record those members of the fire service who died as a result of military service, dating back to the Second Boer War and those ‘Fire Guards’, and ‘Fire Watchers’ who died as a result of their duties during World War 2, in addition to our main listing of those members of the fire service who have died in the course of their duties.

A future project will be to provide a listing with images of any memorial, plaque or
tablet around the UK, commemorating members of those who have died in the course of their duties, before the passage of time masks their existence. Such a project has never been attempted before. You can help if you know of any. A photograph would be even better.

Firefighters Remembered | Book of Remembrance. Please share the link.

Below are the relevant details to copy and take to your doctor’s surgery to be added to your medical records.

If you were a serving firefighter this will highlight the fact that you may have been exposed to contaminants in the past.

“Come to Brighton for the Day”, I said….

You may remember that back in April we posted a message from former Hampshire Fire Officer, Frank Bowen, who was fundraising for The Fire Fighters Charity by cycling from London to Brighton on 18 June 2023.

Well Frank has completed his challenge and below is a message from Frank, along with a link to a very entertaining account of the event.

“I was very grateful to you all for publicising my fundraising effort for the Firefighters’ Charity through the PMA, and I’ve been able to raise a total of £650 for them which is brilliant! 

Attached is the narrative I’ve written after riding the British Heart Foundation’s London to Brighton bike ride with Mike Stead and his family on Sunday (18 June), you can read this by clicking the link: Frank’s account of his London to Brighton Cycle Ride in aid of The Fire Fighters Charity.“

On Sunday 18 June 2023, Frank is going to cycle from London to Brighton on behalf of The Fire Fighters Charity.

It’s a 54 mile+  ride and includes the infamous Ditchling Beacon hill climb just before the end, (it gets steeper as you ascend and seemingly goes on forever!) 

If you would like to support Frank please visit his justgiving page, where you can read more about his story and also donate: Frank Ian Bowen is fundraising for The Fire Fighters Charity (justgiving.com).