Air Raid Precautions
Encyclopedia
Air Raid Precautions was an organisation in the United Kingdom
set up as an aid in the prelude to the Second World War dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air-raids. It was created in 1924 as a response to the fears about the growing threat from the development of bomber
aircraft
. Giulio Douhet
had published his influential Command of the Air in 1921 and his main thesis had been memorably taken into English
as "the bomber will always get through
".
began on 19 January 1915 when zeppelin
s dropped bombs on the Great Yarmouth
area, killing six people. German
bombing operations of the First World War were surprisingly effective, especially after the Gotha
bombers surpassed the zeppelins. The most devastating raids inflicted 121 casualties for each ton
of bombs dropped and it was this figure that was used as a basis for predictions. The 1924 ARP Committee produced figures estimating that in London
there would be 9,000 casualties in the first two days and then a continuing rate of 17,500 casualties a week. These rates were thought conservative.
It was believed that there would be "total chaos and panic" and hysterical neurosis as the people of London would try to flee the city. To control the population harsh measures were proposed—bringing London under almost military control; physically cordoning London with 120,000 troops to force people back to work. A different government department proposed setting up camps for refugees for a few days before sending them back to London.
These schemes remained on paper only and while estimates of potential damage remained high, the Air Raids Commandant (Major General H. Pritchard of the Royal Engineers
) favoured a more reasoned solution. He discerned that panic and flight were basically problems of morale
, if the people could be organised, trained and provided with protection then they would not panic. As part of this scheme the country was divided into regions each having its own command and control structure, in potentia at least.
The 1924 estimates were, during the build up to World War II
, regularly revised upwards, particularly in the light of the 1937 German bombing of Guernica
, Spain
. In 1938 the Air Ministry predicted 65,000 casualties a week—in the first month of war the British government was expecting a million casualties, three million refugees, and the majority of the capital destroyed. Measures to control this devastation were largely limited to grisly discussions about body disposal and the distribution of over a million burial forms to local authorities. In the same year the Socialist biologist JBS Haldane wrote a book titled A.R.P. (Air Raid Precautions) addressed to "the ordinary citizen, the sort of man and woman who is going to be killed if Britain is raided again from the air" and intended it to be a scientific counterbalance to the "propaganda" that comprised the majority of existing literature at the time. In the book, Haldane strongly criticises the measures taken by the government based on his professional knowledge of human physiology combined with his front-line experiences in the Spanish Civil War.
At the outbreak of the war the British government knew that air attacks would be a main part of the German war tactics so they ordered a million coffins after war was declared. The 1939 Hailey Conference had decided that providing deep shelters would lead to workers staying underground rather than working. This policy was reversed in 1940 when 79 tube stations
opened for use as overnight shelters and specialised deep shelter construction begun.
During the Second World War, the ARP was responsible for the issuing of gas mask
s, pre-fabricated air-raid shelter
s (such as Anderson shelters, as well as Morrison shelters), the upkeep of local public shelters, and the maintenance of the blackout
. The ARP also helped rescue people after air raids and other attacks, and some women became ARP Ambulance Attendants whose job was to help administer first aid to casualties, search for survivors, and in many grim instances, help recover bodies, sometimes those of their own colleagues.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists members of the ARP within its casualty reports for civilian war dead. The Hamilton Road Cemetery
in Deal, Kent has the graves of two serving ARP members, one who died on duty during an air raid in 1940 at the height of the Battle of Britain
, and an Ambulance Attendant who was killed by a cross-channel shelling attack in 1944.
As the war progressed, the effectiveness of aerial bombardment was, beyond the destruction of property, very limited. There were less than three casualties for each ton of bombs dropped by the Luftwaffe
in many British cities and the expected social consequences hardly happened. The morale of the British people remained high, 'shell-shock
' was not at all common, and the rates of other nervous and mental ailments declined.
During the war the ARP was headquartered at Baylis House
in Slough, Buckinghamshire. With the development of the Civil Defence Service
in 1941, the main function of the ARP fell within the remit of this organisation. However, the term remained in usage and on signage throughout the war. Although disbanded in 1946, the functions of the ARP were revived as part of the Civil Defence Corps
formed in 1949.
, to ensure that no light was visible. If a light was spotted, the warden would alert the person/people responsible by shouting something like "Put that light out!" or "Cover that window!". They could report persistent offenders to the local police. They also patrolled the streets during air raids and doused incendiary bombs
with sandbags where possible.
Other duties included helping to police areas suffering bomb damage and helping bombed-out householders. ARP wardens were trained in fire-fighting and first aid
, and could keep an emergency situation under control until official rescue services arrived.
There were around 1.4 million ARP wardens in Britain during the war, almost all unpaid part-time volunteers who also held day-time jobs. They had a basic uniform consisting of a set of overalls and an armlet, along with a black steel helmet. Later in the war they would be issued with the dark blue battledress issued to Civil Defence members. The steel helmet had W for Warden in bold white writing across it, except for Chief Wardens who wore white helmets with black lettering.
Many wardens went considerably beyond the call of duty and a search of medal citations in the London Gazette
demonstrates this. The first ARP warden to receive the George Cross
was Thomas Alderson
, who won his award for actions saving civilian life in Bridlington
in 1940.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
set up as an aid in the prelude to the Second World War dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air-raids. It was created in 1924 as a response to the fears about the growing threat from the development of bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
. Giulio Douhet
Giulio Douhet
General Giulio Douhet was an Italian general and air power theorist. He was a key proponent of strategic bombing in aerial warfare...
had published his influential Command of the Air in 1921 and his main thesis had been memorably taken into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as "the bomber will always get through
The bomber will always get through
The bomber will always get through was a phrase used by Stanley Baldwin in 1932, in the speech "A Fear for the Future" to the British Parliament...
".
Origins
The bombing of Britain in the First World WarWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
began on 19 January 1915 when zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
s dropped bombs on the Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
area, killing six people. German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
bombing operations of the First World War were surprisingly effective, especially after the Gotha
Gotha G
|-See also:-References:* The Complete Encyclopedia of Flight 1848-1939 by John Batchelor and Malcolm V. Lowe-External links:*...
bombers surpassed the zeppelins. The most devastating raids inflicted 121 casualties for each ton
Ton
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
of bombs dropped and it was this figure that was used as a basis for predictions. The 1924 ARP Committee produced figures estimating that in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
there would be 9,000 casualties in the first two days and then a continuing rate of 17,500 casualties a week. These rates were thought conservative.
It was believed that there would be "total chaos and panic" and hysterical neurosis as the people of London would try to flee the city. To control the population harsh measures were proposed—bringing London under almost military control; physically cordoning London with 120,000 troops to force people back to work. A different government department proposed setting up camps for refugees for a few days before sending them back to London.
These schemes remained on paper only and while estimates of potential damage remained high, the Air Raids Commandant (Major General H. Pritchard of the Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
) favoured a more reasoned solution. He discerned that panic and flight were basically problems of morale
Morale
Morale, also known as esprit de corps when discussing the morale of a group, is an intangible term used to describe the capacity of people to maintain belief in an institution or a goal, or even in oneself and others...
, if the people could be organised, trained and provided with protection then they would not panic. As part of this scheme the country was divided into regions each having its own command and control structure, in potentia at least.
The 1924 estimates were, during the build up to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, regularly revised upwards, particularly in the light of the 1937 German bombing of Guernica
Bombing of Guernica
The bombing of Guernica was an aerial attack on the Basque town of Guernica, Spain, causing widespread destruction and civilian deaths, during the Spanish Civil War...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. In 1938 the Air Ministry predicted 65,000 casualties a week—in the first month of war the British government was expecting a million casualties, three million refugees, and the majority of the capital destroyed. Measures to control this devastation were largely limited to grisly discussions about body disposal and the distribution of over a million burial forms to local authorities. In the same year the Socialist biologist JBS Haldane wrote a book titled A.R.P. (Air Raid Precautions) addressed to "the ordinary citizen, the sort of man and woman who is going to be killed if Britain is raided again from the air" and intended it to be a scientific counterbalance to the "propaganda" that comprised the majority of existing literature at the time. In the book, Haldane strongly criticises the measures taken by the government based on his professional knowledge of human physiology combined with his front-line experiences in the Spanish Civil War.
At the outbreak of the war the British government knew that air attacks would be a main part of the German war tactics so they ordered a million coffins after war was declared. The 1939 Hailey Conference had decided that providing deep shelters would lead to workers staying underground rather than working. This policy was reversed in 1940 when 79 tube stations
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
opened for use as overnight shelters and specialised deep shelter construction begun.
World War II
Gas mask
A gas mask is a mask put on over the face to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Some gas masks are also respirators, though the word...
s, pre-fabricated air-raid shelter
Air-raid shelter
Air-raid shelters, also known as bomb shelters, are structures for the protection of the civil population as well as military personnel against enemy attacks from the air...
s (such as Anderson shelters, as well as Morrison shelters), the upkeep of local public shelters, and the maintenance of the blackout
Blackout (wartime)
A blackout during war, or apprehended war, is the practice of collectively minimizing outdoor light, including upwardly directed light. This was done in the 20th century to prevent crews of enemy aircraft from being able to navigate to their targets simply by sight, for example during the London...
. The ARP also helped rescue people after air raids and other attacks, and some women became ARP Ambulance Attendants whose job was to help administer first aid to casualties, search for survivors, and in many grim instances, help recover bodies, sometimes those of their own colleagues.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists members of the ARP within its casualty reports for civilian war dead. The Hamilton Road Cemetery
Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal, Kent.
Hamilton Road Cemetery is a combined municipal and military burial ground situated in the coastal town of Deal, Kent, in South East England. Opened in May 1856, it was created to provide a new burial ground for Deal at a time when its general population was expanding and when previous, often ad hoc...
in Deal, Kent has the graves of two serving ARP members, one who died on duty during an air raid in 1940 at the height of the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
, and an Ambulance Attendant who was killed by a cross-channel shelling attack in 1944.
As the war progressed, the effectiveness of aerial bombardment was, beyond the destruction of property, very limited. There were less than three casualties for each ton of bombs dropped by the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
in many British cities and the expected social consequences hardly happened. The morale of the British people remained high, 'shell-shock
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Posttraumaticstress disorder is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity,...
' was not at all common, and the rates of other nervous and mental ailments declined.
During the war the ARP was headquartered at Baylis House
Baylis House
Baylis House is a Grade I listed building in Slough, Berkshire, England. It is representative of the plain Dutch style that was popular in England after post-Civil war restoration of the English monarchy in 1660....
in Slough, Buckinghamshire. With the development of the Civil Defence Service
Civil Defence Service
The Civil Defence Service was a civilian volunteer organisation established in Great Britain by the Home Office in 1935. In 1941, during World War II, the use of Civil Defence replaced the pre-existing Air Raid Precautions...
in 1941, the main function of the ARP fell within the remit of this organisation. However, the term remained in usage and on signage throughout the war. Although disbanded in 1946, the functions of the ARP were revived as part of the Civil Defence Corps
Civil Defence Corps
The Civil Defence Corps was a civilian volunteer organisation established in Great Britain in 1949 to take control in the aftermath of a nuclear attack. It was stood down in Great Britain in 1968...
formed in 1949.
Wardens
Air Raid wardens or ARP wardens had the task of patrolling the streets during blackoutBlackout (wartime)
A blackout during war, or apprehended war, is the practice of collectively minimizing outdoor light, including upwardly directed light. This was done in the 20th century to prevent crews of enemy aircraft from being able to navigate to their targets simply by sight, for example during the London...
, to ensure that no light was visible. If a light was spotted, the warden would alert the person/people responsible by shouting something like "Put that light out!" or "Cover that window!". They could report persistent offenders to the local police. They also patrolled the streets during air raids and doused incendiary bombs
Incendiary device
Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices or incendiary bombs are bombs designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using materials such as napalm, thermite, chlorine trifluoride, or white phosphorus....
with sandbags where possible.
Other duties included helping to police areas suffering bomb damage and helping bombed-out householders. ARP wardens were trained in fire-fighting and first aid
First aid
First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care...
, and could keep an emergency situation under control until official rescue services arrived.
There were around 1.4 million ARP wardens in Britain during the war, almost all unpaid part-time volunteers who also held day-time jobs. They had a basic uniform consisting of a set of overalls and an armlet, along with a black steel helmet. Later in the war they would be issued with the dark blue battledress issued to Civil Defence members. The steel helmet had W for Warden in bold white writing across it, except for Chief Wardens who wore white helmets with black lettering.
Many wardens went considerably beyond the call of duty and a search of medal citations in the London Gazette
London Gazette
The London Gazette is one of the official journals of record of the British government, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are required to be published...
demonstrates this. The first ARP warden to receive the George Cross
George Cross
The George Cross is the highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom, and also holds, or has held, that status in many of the other countries of the Commonwealth of Nations...
was Thomas Alderson
Thomas Alderson
Thomas Hopper Alderson GC was the first person to be directly awarded the George Cross shortly after its creation in 1940. He was an Air Raid Precautions warden in Bridlington.He was fifth of six children...
, who won his award for actions saving civilian life in Bridlington
Bridlington
Bridlington is a seaside resort, minor sea fishing port and civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It has a static population of over 33,000, which rises considerably during the tourist season...
in 1940.
Fire Guard Messengers
With a general lack of radio communications and telephone communications prone to disruption by air raids, many towns appointed children volunteers aged between 14 and 18 as messengers or runners. These Fire Guard Messengers would run or cycle through the night raids ferrying messages between ARPs and the fire department units and incendiary volunteers with their buckets of sand.ARP Wardens in Popular Culture
- In the television series Dad's ArmyDad's ArmyDad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...
, Chief ARP Warden Hodges is a recurring character. - In the Disney film Bedknobs and BroomsticksBedknobs and BroomsticksBedknobs and Broomsticks is a 1971 musical film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution Company which combines live action and animation and was released in North America on December 13, 1971...
, an ARP warden can be seen in the background during the Portobello RoadPortobello RoadPortobello Road is a street in the Notting Hill district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London, England. It runs almost the length of Notting Hill from south to north, roughly parallel with Ladbroke Grove. On Saturdays it is home to Portobello Road Market, one of London's...
sequence.
See also
- Air raid shelter
- Auxiliary Fire ServiceAuxiliary Fire ServiceThe Auxiliary Fire Service was first formed in 1938 in Great Britain as part of Civil Defence Air raid precautions. Its role was to supplement the work of brigades at local level. In this job it was hampered severely by the incompatibility of equipment used by these different brigades - most...
- Klaxon
- Strategic bombingStrategic bombingStrategic bombing is a military strategy used in a total war with the goal of defeating an enemy nation-state by destroying its economic ability and public will to wage war rather than destroying its land or naval forces...
- Civil Defence ServiceCivil Defence ServiceThe Civil Defence Service was a civilian volunteer organisation established in Great Britain by the Home Office in 1935. In 1941, during World War II, the use of Civil Defence replaced the pre-existing Air Raid Precautions...
External links
- http://ssa.nls.uk/film.cfm?fid=0031 ARP SCHOOLS (c1940) http://ssa.nls.uk/film.cfm?fid=2769 ARP: A REMINDER FOR PEACETIME (c1940) (archive films from the National Library of Scotland: Scottish Screen Archive)