Soloman Belinsky
Solomon lost his life in the line of duty after being fatally injured in the Leeds Blitz on the 15th of March 1941. His Red Plaque was presented on the 15th of September 2018.
A firefighter serving in Leeds’s Auxiliary Fire Service – the volunteer brigade organised during World War Two – Solomon was killed in an air raid while attempting to save the city’s museum. Solomon was an emigrant from today’s Belarus who worked as an upholsterer in Leeds, where he served in the AFS at Gipton Fire Station. He left behind a widow named Rachel and four children. Following his death, his daughter Anita joined the Auxiliary Fire Service at the age of seventeen.
Just after midnight on the 15th of March 1941 – during what came to be known as the Leeds Blitz – Solomon arrived with his AFS crew at Park Row in the city centre, where bombs were falling directly on the historic museum. As he fought to save the museum, Solomon was hit by a bomb, sustaining fatal injuries. He died seventeen days later at Leeds General Infirmary, becoming one of 818 firefighters killed at home in World War Two.
Solomon’s courageous service is remembered by war historians, Leeds’s communities, generations of his family, and his brothers and sisters across today’s fire service. His memorial Plaque can be found at his former post, The Old Fire Station in Gipton, which now serves as a community centre.
Photo credits: Fire Brigades Union