Historical information

Among the many pressing priorities for Alf Lawrence, the Forests Commission's new Chief Fire Officer, in rebuilding the firefighting capacity after the catastrophic 1939 bushfires was to invest heavily in modern vehicles and equipment.

Powered pumps like the trailer-mounted Coventry Climax (Godiva) gave firefighters a much greater capacity than ever before to put the “wet stuff on the red stuff”.

Its four-cylinder, four-stroke, water-cooled, petrol motor produced 38Hp and was connected with either 1½ inch or 2½ inch canvas hose for direct attack, or as a filler pump it could deliver 300 gallons per minute at 120 psi.

Some of the first acquisitions included this war surplus veteran shipped over from the London after the blitz bombings of WW2.

Physical description

Fire pump mounted on trailer
Two lengths of suction hose, nozzles and some tools.

Inscriptions & markings

Coventry Climax
Serial 3844
FCV No 24