and "the Metropolis has been mapped out so that when a fire takes place it may be attended to at the earliest possible moment." The early working staff (like its fire brigade counterparts) were mainly recruited from the navy. They consisted of the chief (salvage) officer and a superintendent, foreman and crew of men at each salvage station. The stations of the corps were initially connected by telegraph but were later connected by telephone with the fire brigade stations from whence the calls were received. In addition to the station staff, there were also salvage staff constantly employed during the daytime in inspecting docks, wharves, goods and London warehouses, with regular reports made weekly to the Insurance Committee. Headquarters and station locations No. 1 Station (B District) - headquarters situated at Watling Street - protected the City of London enclosed by Euston Road, Tottenham Court Road, City Road and the river Thames No. 2 Station (C District) - located on Commercial Road - covered whole of the eastern and north-eastern portion of London to the north of the Thames No. 3 Station (D District), opposite the headquarters of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Station in Southwark Bridge Road, protected the whole of south London No. 4 station (A District), on Shaftesbury Avenue, covered the West End and Kensington This station transferred to the London Fire Brigade and became their Soho Fire Station. Following wartime bomb damage, it remained in use until 1983. No. 5 station, in Upper Street, Islington, protected the parish of Islington A new headquarters was constructed for the London Salvage Corps at Aldersgate Street in 1960. Following the disbanding of the service in the 1980s, it transferred to the London Fire Brigade. The building was subsequently demolished and the site is now an office building Advances in the Salvage Corps The last horse drawn salvage tender was withdrawn in 1923, two years after the last of the London Fire Brigade's horses were retired from service at Kensington fire station. By May 1936 the LSC fleet consisted of seven Leyland 3-tonners that had been in operation since 1923. It also had a 30-cwt and a 5-cwt. van; the larger used for carrying extra waterproof clothes and other gear, whilst the smaller vehicle could be used for taking first-aid gear to smaller outbreaks and thus save the expense of turning out a major tender. One of the LSC tenders, which