The Dudley Fire & Ambulance Service was created in 1948 as part of the de-nationalisation of The National Fire Service (N.F.S.) whereby fire brigades & ambulance services were handed back to be controlled by borough’s & county borough’s.
Dudley had one fire station covering 7 square miles surrounding the town of Dudley. The modern station is in Burton Road, Dudley but Dudley Fire Brigade’s history dates back to 1834. The first fire brigade had 12 men & the 1st official fire station was built in 1892 in Priory Street. The town dates back to Anglo Saxon times & derives its name from the old English language, “ Duddan Leah “ meaning Dudda’s clearing, the castle was built in 1070 & in the Middle Ages it was a thriving market town.
8 miles from Birmingham City centre, Dudley was a small borough fire & ambulance service, original cap badges from small fire brigades with just one fire station are not easy to come by on the open market. Many original badges are already in private collections & reproductions have been produced! It expanded in 1966 & the cap badge changed to an even harder to obtain cap badge, the Dudley coat of arms cap badge worn from 1966 to 1974, just 8 (eight) years.
This Dudley Fire & Ambulance Service cap badge from the 1948 to 1966 period retaining both cap fixing lugs to the rear of the fully pressed issue Home Office star. and manufactured by Mike Trueman Badges of Birmingham.