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dashed outside, where I saw the Village lit up by flares in the sky, over the fields of Rudston House farm. Hundreds of incendiaries were igniting, and some were exploding across the fields. There were two searchlights on the outskirts of the Village: one at Little Argam on the comer of Hunmanby Road and Boynton Road (the Green Lane) and the other was near the shed, on the left, opposite Keepers Cottage, between Rudston and Kilham.
It was just after harvest, and all the corn was in the farm yards, in stacks; this was before the combine harvester became popular. On looking across the fields, I could see that there was a fire in Mr. E. Dawson's stack-yard (the one nearest Kilham Lane end.) As my father and myself were in the fire service, he went to ring for a fire engine to come from Bridlington. (We had our own fire engine in the Village, it was a two manpower job, it needed four men to carry it, plus two men to pump it, and if you were more than ten yards from the Gipsey race, you would have needed another ten men to carry the water, that's if the two men pumping were two good strong lads).
There was already a fire engine on its way, by this time: I was at the fire when it arrived. One of our Village firemen showed the others where the hydrant was further down Long Street, and they laid a hose to the fire. I took a fire engine to a pond just through the stack-yard. When it was pumped dry, the fire engine went by road to the pond at Breeze Farm, and I led a team of men across the field, each with a length of hose to connect up to the pump across Kilham Road, at Mr. Robson's Farm.
By the time this pond was dry, the fire had been contained and was dying down, and us part timers were about to pack up when a lady and some helpers turned up with two, two and a half gallon white enamelled buckets of tea, and sandwiches etc., which was very welcome. Just as we were leaving, Mr. Ernest Dawson came into the yard and thanked us for what we had done.
I believe Burton Agnes firemen were there with their trailer pump, and there was also a stack fire at Rudston Grange Farm. I can only repeat what I know and what I saw that night, as there was a lot of activity and a lot of people involved.
Walter Burgess
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