A memorial to the eight firefighters that lost their lives during the Sheffield Blitz has been unveiled in Pounds Park.

The German bombing operation, code name “Crucible”, destroyed much of the city centre and damaged nearly 80,000 homes, taking the lives of at least 660 people in 1940,

Matt Nicholls, Secretary of the Fire Brigade Union in South Yorkshire, paid his tributes at the service.

He said: “In 1940 when Sheffield endured the devastation of the Blitz, Norman, Alfred, Arthur, Fredrick, Stanley, Tom, John and Albert – I say their first names because they were ordinary people – met those nights with resolve.”

The plaque revealed today at noon was organised by the Fire Brigade’s Union, whose campaign memorialises the service of firefighters across the UK by placing a red plaque at the sites where they lost their lives in the line of duty.

The service was attended by active firefighters who had to leave the afternoon’s speeches to respond to an incident.

Nigel Kind, Chairman of the National Association of Retired Firefighters, served as a firefighter for 40 years and now researches the history of the fire brigade.

Mr Kind said: “it’s just showing that their sacrifice isn’t going to be forgotten, we remember them like the military.

“When everybody was sheltering, these guys were out when the bombs were still falling, putting fires out and protecting the city.

“That’s the sacrifice they made.”

Also among today’s crowds were families of the firefighters. Patricia Wyatt’s uncle, Arthur Moore, lost his life on the night of the 12 December 1940.

Mrs Wyatt and her family travelled from across the UK to see the service.

She said: “He was 28 years-old and he was engaged. His ashes are now in the grave of his fiancée in Burngreave cemetery.

“We never knew him. But he was one you’d have liked to have known.”