Civil Defence
Civil Defence as an organisation was set up in September 1941. It was made up of Air Raid Precautions (ARP), the National Fire Service and the Home Guard.
The Home Guard was formed when there was a real risk of invasion. Most men who could fight were already in the forces and those that were left were either too young, too old or in a reserved occupation, those jobs vital to the war effort.
In addition to the Home Guard, towns were patrolled at night by air raid wardens, helping people into shelters and enforcing blackout regulations, urging householders to ‘put that light out!’
ARP staff were responsible for everything connected with an enemy attack. The fire service and ambulance service also played their part.
"I had to become a Firewatcher and go to classes for First Aid.
You were on your doorstep and if anything fell anywhere within your area, then you went out to that area and helped to put that fire out.
We’d got a stirrup pump and a bucket! You had a tin helmet, a gas mask, a bucket of water. No, not very much." Edith
"I remember the air raid warden riding down the road on his bike with his tin hat on, peddling like fury and blowing on his whistle when there was an air-raid." Jane
"I got attached to the local ARP group and any incident that they thought mentioning I had to run down and take a message down to the local headquarters on my bike it wasn’t a thrilling job but somebody had to do it, being the son of the local copper they said ‘oh he’ll do'." William
"My father-in-law was a member of the Home Guard and he would tell stories about manning the anti-aircraft guns on Shooters Hill, South London, after working all day in the factory. The Home Guard would spend all night firing at German aircraft with these huge anti-aircraft cannons. He said they never hit anything!!! Later when I was in hospital on Shooters Hill I remember watching the search lights in the sky each night, a real display, that continued for years after the war was over." Jane
"Our house in Greenfield Road was used as an ARP subpost, now the reason for that was that we had the only telephone in the street. A siren was fitted to our house and we had to take the telephone message from the local authority in the town when an air raid was imminent. As soon as the telephone went and the air raid warning was red the siren had to be sounded by my parents, if my parents were not there we children had to do it and we loved it." John
