From Wikipedia:
The Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) was first formed in 1938 in Great Britain as part of the Civil Defence Service. Its role was to supplement the work of brigades at local level. The Auxiliary Fire Service and the local brigades were superseded in August 1941 by the National Fire Service. After the war the AFS was reformed alongside the Civil Defence Corps, forming part of the UK’s planned emergency response to a nuclear attack. It was disbanded in the UK in 1968.
Members of the AFS were unpaid part-time volunteers, but could be called up for whole-time paid service if necessary. This was very similar to the wartime establishment of the police Special Constabulary. Men and women could join, the latter mainly in an administrative role. A first-hand account of the type of work they undertook is given by A S Bullock in Gloucestershire Between the Wars: A Memoir. (Available on Amazon.co.uk)
Mitcham was supported by three A.F.S. sub stations at:
Fortescue Road School
Pascalls Factory
Rowan Road School
Rowan Road A.F.S. 1940. Photo kindly provided by the son of G. Davis (back row, second from the left)
In this photo were:
At the back: C. BRAGG, T. SASSE
Back row: E. SHORTER, G. DAVIS, B. ACKERMAN, F. PEARCE, R. SAYERS, G. BROWN, B.SHED
Front row: B. POGE, B. PHILLIPS, B. SMITH, J.WARNE, Mrs. GOODWIN, C. BISHOP, L. WILLIS
The school in Rowan Road was opened in 1930 as the Rowan Road Central School. It changed its name to Rowan County Secondary in 1960, and in 1965 the boys left to go to the new school at Eastfields.
From local newspapers
Sporting events included Mitcham ATC vs. the Rowan Road AFS:
Streatham News, 18th July 1941, page 5.
and the AFS vs East Moitcham FC (at cricket):
Streatham News, 18th July 1941, page 5.
Mitcham History Notes 