Brian Read

BRIAN READ was born in 1939 in Essex and raised in East and South-East London. With no formal educational qualifications, in 1954 he left Secondary Modern School and became a trainee millwright and then a trainee groundsman before joining the Merchant Navy in 1955 where he travelled widely. In 1961 he embarked on a fire service career, first with the Devon County Fire Service, then the City of Plymouth Fire Brigade, and finally the newly formed Devon Fire Brigade. While on duty in 1983, in the rank of assistant divisional officer, he sustained an injury that, in 1986, resulted in his medical discharge.