Whilst not exactly a Police subject - none-the-less Fire and Ambulance are part of the Emergency services - and in my humble view - have a right to be included with us. Apart from that, I've only got this one subject to post !
Durban Fire Department (in South Africa) was formed in 1898 and serves a community of some 400,000,today. There have been a number of changes since 1992 when Mandela came out of prison and the items I am showing here are basically pre 1992. The helmet is an officer's and the brass 'S' at the top of the helmet plate is for the rank - in this case Station Officer. The two pips go with this rank. The epaulette with the bar is for a Senior Fireman and the helmet badge with crossed axes is for a fireman. The shoulder title - in enamel - is typical of South Africa for that period. They are now mostly pressed plastic and these early ones are going to be a collectable field quite soon.
The nicest item is the helmet - clearly marked for an officer, with the red band - it has a very nice leather helmet plate with brass details. This belonged to Father and then his Son and was first issued in the 1960's. The Father retired as a Divisional Commander. Today, helmets are plastic - but, this is one of the earlier type of fibre glass. The helmet is in exceptional condition - despite being worn for nearly 40 years on active duty. One thing that did surprise me was the brass fittings on the badge - I always thought anything that could attract electricity was kept off the work uniform ? Finally , the son's (his name is on the front of the helmet) two long service medals - 5 and 10 years are shown. DFD stands for Durban Fire Department.