TOPFOTO
1940 PLAYING WITH FIRE
Members of the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) in East London salvage unwanted wood to make toy fire engines, which were then sold to raise money for the children of 14 firemen who had recently lost their lives in a single blaze. The AFS was made up of volunteers – often men too young or too old to go to war. As might be expected, many of those pictured here made toys as Christmas presents for their own children.