1946 - 1973
From 1946 to 1948 the NFS was retained but early in 1948 control of fire protection was handed back to the Civil Authorities all be it not necessarily those who held it prior to the war. Mostly it was Counties and Boroughs who were required to raise a Fire Authority and many of the small Volunteer and Parish Brigades simply disappeared. At his time the LFB was reformed under the London County Council again and resumed much as it did before the war.
New cork helmets were issued, this time ordered direct from Helmets Ltd (Cromwell Helmets) rather than through Merryweather & Sons, and sadly the magnificent "Cock's Comb" helmet disappeared in favour of another newly designed helmet meant to be exclusively for the LFB.
1957 Cromwell LFB MkI
In 1965 the LCC was disbanded and the Greater London Council (GLC) formed to govern London, this new government also had an expanded area to control having taken in parts of Surrey, Kent, Essex and Hartfordshire and completely absorbed Eastham, Westham, Croydon and Middlesex.
The result of this for the LFB was the addition of all the fire stations in these areas which in turn led to a variety of uniforms for a while. The effect on fire helmets was to see some variations of the type of Cromwell helmets being worn.
1965 Cromwell 2221 (later to become the F135 County)
1965 Cromwell 2320 Middlesex (later to become the F335)
The Cromwell LFB model was no longer exclusively worn by London firefighters and the LFB model was no longer exclusive to the LFB as many other Brigades adopted it.
The fire helmet remained construction unchanged until 1970 when Helmets Ltd modified the manufacturing methods of all their fire helmets. The helmet was no longer made from laminated cork sheet laid up by hand, now they were made from resin bound cork crumbs molded into shape and the inner shell was now molded plastic and the headliner was attached with pop-fasteners and of man-made materials not leather but still with a painted canvas outer cover.