DURING York’s “Baedeker” bombing blitz of 1942, firemen Frank Fox and Arthur Broadhead were called to Bootham Crescent to tackle a house fire, started by an incendiary bomb.

The pair had unrolled their hosepipes and Arthur had gone back to check it was coupled up correctly when a bomb landed nearby and exploded.

Arthur was killed instantly, while Frank escaped with concussion, deafness caused by the enormous bang and bruising on his thigh caused by shrapnel passing by.

Now, at the age of 95, Frank has travelled back to York from his home near Blackpool to lay flowers at Arthur’s grave in York Cemetery, only days before the 71st anniversary of the infamous raid of April 29, 1942, in which 72 residents died.

He had the headstone made in 1993 and ensured the overgrown site was kept tidy.

Frank said he and Arthur had been stationed in Heworth and, when the alarm sounded in the early hours, he thought at first it was just another exercise – until he saw a flare in the sky.

He said they drove their pump through York to a house near York City’s football ground, where the roof had been set alight by an incendiary flare.

“We had attached the hose to a hydrant and coupled two sections of hose together when Arthur went back to check they were coupled up properly,” he said.

“When the bomb landed there was a terrible bang. It was the loudest noise I had ever heard. It made me a bit deaf for the rest of my life. A brick must have hit me on the helmet as it was dented and I could see brick dust.

“A piece of shrapnel went through my leggings and just caught my thigh, but must have cauterised it.

“Fred Simpson, who was operating the pump because he had driven it to the scene, suffered facial injuries caused by shrapnel and lost an eye. It could easily have been me driving the pump, in which case I would have been operating it.

“It could also have been me that went back to check the coupling rather than Arthur. I was very fortunate.”