The History of the Glenwood H&L, E&H, Co., Inc

1937-1946

Once again, events on the world stage would have a profound impact on the fire company. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese imperial Fleet launched a surprise attack on the United States naval fleet in Pearl Harbor. Following President Franklin Roosevelt's "Day of Infamy" speech in front of a joint session of Congress, we were at war with Japan. Soon thereafter Gennany declared war on the United States and we were thrust full force into World War II.

As with World War I, members of the Company quickly responded to our nation's call to arms. A large number of our young firemen were now in the various branches of the military service. Some of our members would make the supreme sacrifice and never see Glenwood again.

A 24-hour watch was instituted from Pearl Harbor Day until the Japanese surrender in 1945. The watch was conducted entirely by volunteers from the company. The Long Island area was a strategic and critical defense area, with such installations as the Grumman aircraft plant in Bethpige and Mitchel Field in Garden City. In our backyard the LILCO power plant; the fuel depots and Fyfe's shipyard, which outfitted "P.T." boats [motor torpedo boats] for the United States Navy, with the weapons systems used in combat. The "P.T." boats were built in Nova Scotia and then sent to Glenwood Landing. Once the weapons were installed on the boats, they would be test fired into the sand banks on the Port Washington side of the harbor.

The "Civil Defense" program was formed following Pearl Harbor, and the volunteer fire service of Long Island would play a crucial role in the "Civil Defense" of the Island. The "battalion" system as we know it today was formed following Pearl Harbor, and a mutual aid system was adopted within Nassau County. A mutual aid agreement was also established with the City of New York at that time, and is still in effect today.

The company kept in touch with the members in the military service via a monthly letter and sent the members a regular cash gift each month. With a large number of the membership engaged in active military duty, the available manpower was greatly depreciated. This required many of the older members to perform double duty, and auxiliary firemen were utilized. The latter were not regular members of the fire company, but were called upon if the need arose to supplement the regular members at a large fire or other emergency. The auxiliary firemen came under the auspices of the Civil Defense program. To this day, the fire company's alarm system is tied into the Civil Defense program.

At the height of the war effort, what could have been a disastrous fire struck Fyfe's shipyard. A P.1. boat being outfitted caught fire and was quickly engulfed in flames. Glenwood firefighters disregarding their own safety, valiantly fought the fire with help from the Sea Cliff, Glen Cove and Roslyn fire departments. Even though the fire caused extensive damage to a large portion of the shipyard, the efforts of the firefighters saved the shipyard from total destruction and what would have been a terrible set back for the Navy in outfitting of the P.T. boats.

With the end of the war in 1945, life in America slowly began to return to normal.