Editing Air Raid Precautions

{{Short description|British civil defence programme}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2022}}
[[File:Air Raid Wardens Wanted - Arp Art.IWMPST13880.jpg|thumb|right|Recruitment poster for Air Raid Wardens]] [[File:Here's a Man's Job! Art.IWMPST13851.jpg|thumb|ARP poster]]
'''Air Raid Precautions''' ('''ARP''') refers to a number of organisations and guidelines in the [[United Kingdom]] dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air raids. Government consideration for air raid precautions increased in the 1920s and 30s, with the Raid Wardens' Service set up in 1937 to report on bombing incidents.<ref name="IWM">{{cite web|title=How Britain Prepared For Air Raids In The Second World War|url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/how-britain-prepared-for-air-raids-in-the-second-world-war|website=[[Imperial War Museum]]|access-date=12 October 2017}}</ref> Every local council was responsible for organising ARP wardens, messengers, ambulance drivers, rescue parties, and liaison with police and fire brigades.

From 1 September 1939, ARP wardens enforced the "[[blackout (wartime)|blackout]]". Heavy curtains and shutters were required on all private residences, commercial premises, and factories to prevent light escaping and so making them a possible marker for enemy bombers to locate their targets.

With increased enemy bombing during [[the Blitz]], the ARP services were central in reporting and dealing with bombing incidents. They managed the air raid sirens and ensured people were directed to shelters. Women were involved in ARP services through the [[Women's Voluntary Service]].

The [[Auxiliary Fire Service]] was set up in 1938 to support existing local fire services, which were amalgamated into a [[National Fire Service]] in 1941.

From 1941 the ARP officially changed its title to [[Civil Defence Service]] to reflect the wider range of roles it then encompassed. During the war almost 7,000 Civil Defence workers were killed.<ref name="IWM" /> In all some 1.5 million men and women served within the organisation during World War Two. Over 127,000 full-time personnel were involved at the height of [[the Blitz]] but by the end of 1943 this had dropped to 70,000. The Civil Defence Service was stood down towards the end of the war in Europe on 2 May 1945.<ref name="BBC">{{cite web|title=Fact File : Air Raid Precautions|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/timeline/factfiles/nonflash/a6651425.shtml|website=[[BBC]]|access-date=12 October 2017}}</ref>

Between 1949 and 1968 many of the duties of the [[Civil Defence Service]] were resurrected through the [[Civil Defence Corps]].

==Origins==
During the [[First World War]] [[German strategic bombing during World War I|Britain was bombed]] by [[Zeppelin]]s and [[Gotha G.V|Gotha]] bombers and it was predicted that large-scale aerial bombing of the civilian population would feature prominently in any future war. In 1924, the [[Committee of Imperial Defence]] set up a subcommittee to look at what measure could be taken to protect the civil population from aerial attack.<ref name="Historic England">{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Roger |title=Civil Defence: From the First World War to the Cold War |date=2016 |publisher=Historic England |url=https://content.historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/iha-civil-defence/heag145-civil-defence-iha.pdf/ |access-date=25 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228182456/https://content.historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/iha-civil-defence/heag145-civil-defence-iha.pdf/ |archive-date=28 February 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The new committee, known as Air Raid Precautions, was headed by the then [[Lord Privy Seal]], [[Sir John Anderson]].[[File:NH Karanjia ARP Warden Service Bombay.jpg|thumb|alt=ARP Warden Service Efficiency Warrant issued to NH Karanjia, Bombay, June 1942 with Acknowledgement of Gratitude Card|ARP Warden Service Efficiency Warrant issued to NH Karanjia, Bombay, June 1942 with Acknowledgement of Gratitude Card]]

For the next ten years this committee looked into issues of new aerial weapons development and the possible impact on civilians. The use of [[Chemical weapons in World War I|gas attacks in the First World War]] played heavily on the decisions and protection via [[gas mask]]s was a core decision taken by the committee. Every single person would need a gas mask which meant nearly 40 million would be required. Together with ideas around the building of [[air raid shelter]]s, [[Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II|evacuations of people]] and [[Blackout (wartime)|blackout requirements]] these were all termed passive air defence.

With the rise of [[Adolf Hitler]] and [[Nazi Germany]]'s [[German rearmament|remilitarisation]] during the 1930s, a further [[Home Office]] committee, the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Department, was created in March 1935. This department replaced the earlier subcommittees and took overall control of the British response to passive air defence.<ref>{{cite web |title=Air Raid Precautions Department |url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C511 |website=National Archives |access-date=25 November 2018}}</ref>

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Air-Raid Precautions Act 1937
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to secure that precautions shall be taken with a view to the protection of persons and property from injury or damage in the event of hostile attack from the air.
| year                  = 1937
| citation              = [[1 & 2 Geo. 6]]. c. 6
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 22 December 1937
| commencement          = 1 January 1938
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1976]]
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
In April 1937, the '''Air Raid Wardens' Service''' was created which aimed to seek some 800,000 volunteers (some 200,000 people had joined by mid-1938, and following the [[Munich Crisis]] of September 1938 another 500,000 had enrolled). After the [[bombing of Guernica]], [[Gaumont-British]] began distributing [[newsreel]]s on air-raid safety to British cinemas.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Reynolds|first=David|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/646810103|title=Summits : six meetings that shaped the twentieth century|date=2009|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0-7867-4458-9|location=New York|oclc=646810103}}</ref> Wardens gave ARP advice to the public and were responsible for reporting bombs and other incidents, and were joined by the '''[[Royal Voluntary Service|Women's Voluntary Service]]''' in May 1938.<ref name="IWM" /> On 1 January 1938, the '''{{visible anchor|Air-Raid Precautions Act 1937}}''' ([[1 & 2 Geo. 6]]. c. 6) came into force, compelling all local authorities to begin creating their own ARP services.<ref name="Historic England" /> Air raid shelters were distributed from 1938.<ref name="IWM" /><ref name="Historic England" />

With the threat of war imminent in 1939, the [[Home Office]] issued dozens of leaflets advising people on how to protect themselves from the inevitable [[Air warfare of World War II|air war]] to follow.

==ARP duties==
[[File:The Reconstruction of 'an Incident'- Civil Defence Training in Fulham, London, 1942 D7876.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Civil Defence training exercise in Fulham, London, 1942]]
The ARP services were to include several specialist branches:

===Wardens===
ARP wardens ensured the [[Blackout (wartime)|blackout]] was observed, sounded [[air raid sirens]], safely guided people into public air raid shelters, issued and checked gas masks, evacuated areas around [[Unexploded ordnance|unexploded bombs]], rescued people where possible from bomb damaged properties, located temporary accommodation for those who had been bombed out, and reported to their control centre about incidents, fires, etc. Also, they called in other services as required.

===Report and control===
Central headquarters that received information from wardens and messengers and managed the delivery of the relevant services needed to deal with each incident.

===Messengers===
Often [[Scout (Scouting)|Boy Scouts]] or [[Boys' Brigade]] members aged between 14 and 18 as messengers or runners would take verbal or written messages from air raid wardens and deliver them to either the sector post or the control centre. Bombing would sometimes cut telephone lines and messengers performed an important role in giving the ARP services a fuller picture of events.

===First aid parties===
Trained to give first response first aid to those injured in bombing incidents. First aid parties would provide initial treatment on scene, and could call upon doctors and nurses to provide enhanced care.

===Ambulance drivers===
Casualties from bombing were taken to [[Aid station|first aid posts]] or hospital by volunteer drivers.

===Rescue services===
The rescue services were involved in getting the dead and injured out of bombed premises.

===Gas decontamination===
Specialists to deal with and clean up incidents involving [[chemical weapon]]s.

===Fire guards===
Following the destruction caused by the [[The Blitz|bombing of the City of London]] in late December 1940, the Fire Watcher scheme was introduced in January 1941. All buildings in certain areas had to have a 24-hour watch kept. In the event of fire these fire watchers could call on the rescue services and ensure they could access the building to deal with incidents.

==Second World War==
[[File:All-in War Worker- Everyday Life For Mrs M Hasler, Barnes, Surrey, 1942 D9377.jpg|thumb|right|150px|ARP wardens working at a London ARP sector post.]]
[[Local government in England|Local councils]] were responsible for organising all the necessary ARP services in their areas. Although the standard procedures prescribed that the ideal warden should be at least 30 years old, men and women of all ages were wardens. In certain instances, given special needs of communities, even teenagers were wardens. The role of ARP was open to both men and women but only men could serve in the gas contamination (teams that dealt with chemical and gas bombs), heavy and light rescue and demolition services.

Control of a local authority's warden service was through a chief warden to whom each sector's area warden would report. Within metropolitan boroughs, the initial aim was to have one warden to every 500 residents (this increased later), reporting from individual warden posts – each with its own post warden. Post wardens received messages from the local wardens which they passed to the central Report and Control headquarters.

ARP wardens were initially set up in temporary posts (in homes, shops and offices) and later in purpose-built facilities, mainly at the junctions of roads. In cities, a warden post was responsible for a small area (larger in rural areas) with five wardens to every 4–5,000 people. In London there were approximately ten posts to the square mile. Divided into sectors each post had between three and six wardens who had local knowledge of the location of shelters, [[Public utility|utilities]] (water, gas, electric), what buildings contained (important for the fire services) and who was resident in their sector.
ARP wardens had the task of patrolling the streets during [[blackout (wartime)|blackout]], 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!". They could report persistent offenders to the local police.

During the seven-month [[Phoney War]] period following the outbreak of war in September 1939, ARP wardens mainly offered advice, issued gas masks and air raid shelters (such as the external [[Anderson shelter|Anderson]] and internal [[Morrison shelter]]) and enforced the blackout.<ref name="Guardian obit">{{cite web|url=http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/history-of-the-battle-of-britain/air-raid-shelter-protection.aspx|title=Air Raid Shelter Protection|website=RAF Museum|access-date=2016-05-23}}</ref>

===The Blitz===
[[File:An Air Raid Precautions Warden reports for duty to the Chief Warden at his local ARP post in Springfield, Essex, aUGUST 1941. D4263.jpg|thumb|right|150px|An ARP warden (in overalls) reports for duty to the Chief Warden at his sector post in Springfield, Essex, August 1941.]]
The role of ARP services came into their own during the [[The Blitz|Blitz of 1940–41]]. ARP control centres would sound the air raid sirens and wardens would marshal people into the shelters and then watch out for the fall of any bombs within their sector – often done during air raids and therefore highly dangerous.

When the wardens came across the site of a bombing they would telephone for the emergency services, render first aid to victims with minor injuries and deal with small fires (placing sand on [[incendiary device]]s). Other ARP units included first-aid, light and heavy rescue parties, stretcher parties and messenger boys and girls (who cycled between incidents carrying messages from wardens).
Other duties included helping to police areas suffering bomb damage and helping bombed-out householders. They were also tasked with keeping an emergency under control until official rescue services arrived.

From 1 September 1939 a small percentage of ARP wardens were full-time and were paid a salary (£3 for men, £2 for women), but most were part-time volunteers who carried out their ARP duties as well as full-time jobs. Part-time wardens were supposed to be on duty about three nights a week, but this increased greatly when the bombing was heaviest. One in six was a woman, and amongst the men there were a significant number of veterans of World War I.

==Uniform==
[[File:Silver ARP Badge.jpg|thumb|right|Silver 1936 ARP lapel badge]]
At the beginning of the war, ARP wardens had no uniform, but wore their own clothes (wardens wore helmets, arm bands and badges on their civilian clothes) and in October 1939 issued with 'bluette' overalls with a red on black 'ARP' badge.

From the formation of the ARP until 1939, the badges were produced by the [[Royal Mint]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=London Makers Marks - RJ-RQ|url=http://www.silvermakersmarks.co.uk/Makers/London-RJ-RQ.html#RJ|access-date=2022-02-08|website=www.silvermakersmarks.co.uk}}</ref> and made of solid [[sterling silver]], with a crescent-shaped button hole attachment for men and a pin style [[brooch]] for women. From 1940 on, the badges were made of a base metal.

From May 1941 full-time and regular part-time wardens were issued with dark blue battledress and beret. Women were issued with a four pocket tunic, again in dark blue serge with skirt.<ref name="BBC"/>

===Helmets===
[[File:Air Raid Precautions warden's helmet, Museum of Liverpool.jpg|thumb|right|ARP warden's helmet.]]
ARP service personnel were issued with [[Brodie helmet|Mk. II British helmets]]. These were often not made to the same level as issued to soldiers to reduce costs. These helmets, which had less resistance to ballistic impact, would have small holes drilled in the rim to show they were not for front line use. Depending on the role of the person the helmet would be marked with a letter or letters to easily allow others to ascertain their role at an incident.
* W for wardens (some warden/fire guards had W/FG). Rank within the warden service was denoted by a white helmet and black bands.
* R for rescue services (later HR and LR were used for heavy and light rescue parties)
* RP for repair parties
* FAP for first aid parties and first aid posts 
* A for ambulance drivers
* M for messenger/runner

==Numbers==
[[File:Ministry of Information Second World War Official Collection D5943.jpg|thumb|right|250px|An ARP warden in [[Poplar, London]] at the start of the Second World War.]]
By the outbreak of war there were more than 1.5 million involved in the various ARP services.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/timeline/factfiles/nonflash/a6651425.shtml|title=BBC - WW2 People's War - Timeline |website=www.bbc.co.uk |access-date=2 February 2023}}</ref> There were around 1.4 million ARP wardens in Britain during the war.

Full-time ARP staff peaked at just over 131,000 in December 1940 (nearly 20,000 were women). By 1944, with the decreasing threat from enemy bombing,  the total of full-time ARP staff had dropped to approximately 67,000 (10,000 of whom were women). Volunteers in 1944 numbered nearly 800,000 (of whom 180,000 were women).

===Civil Defence regions===
Mainland Britain was divided in eleven CD regions. Each has a headquarters that controlled the services in that region.
* Region 1 – [[Northern England|Northern]] – [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]]
* Region 2 – [[North East England|North Eastern]] – [[Leeds]]
* Region 3 – [[North Midlands|North Midland]]<ref name="North Midland">{{cite web | url=https://www.ww2civildefence.co.uk/civil-defence-reserve.html#:~:text=Civil%20Defence%20Reserve%20%28Mobile%20Reserve%20%26%20Regional%20Columns%29,consisted%20of%20East%20and%20West%20Sussex%20and%20Kent | title=Civil Defence Reserve (Mobile Reserve & Regional Columns) during WW2 | access-date=13 November 2022}}</ref> – [[Nottingham]]
* Region 4 – [[East of England|Eastern]] – [[Cambridge]]
* Region 5 – [[London]]
** Group 1 – 1. [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]], 2. [[Fulham]], 3. [[Hammersmith]], 4. [[Kensington]], 5. [[Westminster]]
** Group 2 – 6. [[Hampstead]], 7. [[Paddington]], 8. [[Marylebone|St Marylebone]], 9. [[St Pancras, London|St Pacras]], 10. [[Islington]], 11. [[Stoke Newington]]
** Group 3 – 12. [[Bethnal Green]], 13. [[City of London]], 14. [[Finsbury]], 15. [[Hackney, London|Hackney]], 16. [[Holborn]], 17. [[Poplar, London|Poplar]], 18. [[Shoreditch]], 19. [[Stepney]]
** Group 4 – 20. [[Bermondsey]], 21. [[Deptford]], 22. [[Greenwich]], 23. [[Lewisham]], 24. [[Woolwich]]
** Group 5 – 25. ??, 26. ??, 27. ??, 28. ??, 29. ??
** Group 6A – 30. [[Cheshunt]], 31. [[East Barnet]], 32. [[Edmonton, London|Edmonton]], 33. [[Enfield, London|Enfield]], 34. [[Hornsey]], 35. [[Southgate, London|Southgate]], 36. [[Tottenham]], 37. [[Wood Green]]
** Group 6B – 38. [[Friern Barnet]], 39. [[Potters Bar|Potter's Bar]], 40. [[Barnet Rural District]], 41. [[Finchley]], 43. [[Barnet Urban District]], 46. [[Hendon]]
** Group 6C – 42. [[Bushey]], 44. [[Harrow, London|Harrow]], 45. [[Ruislip]] and [[Northwood, London|Northwood]], 47. [[Uxbridge]], 48. [[Wembley]], 49. [[Willesden]], 50. [[Acton, London|Acton]], 51. [[Ealing]], 60. [[Southall]] and [[Norwood Green|Norwood]]
** Group 6D – 54. [[Brentford]], 53. [[Feltham]], 54. [[Hayes, Hillingdon|Hayes]] and ??, 55. [[Heston]] and ??, 56. [[Staines-upon-Thames|Staines]], 57. [[Sunbury-on-Thames|Sunbury]], 58. [[Twickenham]], 59. [[Yiewsley]]
** Group 7 – 61. ??, 62. ??, 63. ??, 65. ??, 66. ??, 67. ??, 68. ??, 69. ??, 70. ??, 71. ?? + 1 other
** Group 8 – 72. [[Beckenham]], 73. [[Bexley]], 74. [[Bromley]], 75. ??, 78. ??, 79. ??
** Group 9A – 80. [[Barnes, London|Barnes]], 81. ??, 82. ??, 83. ??, 84. ??, 85. ??, 86. ??, 88. ??
** Group 9B – 90. ??, 91. ??, 92. ??, 93. ??, 94. ??, 95. ??
* Region 6 – [[Southern England|Southern]] – [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]]
* Region 7 – [[South West England|South Western]] – [[Bristol]]
* Region 8 – [[Wales]] – [[Cardiff]]
* Region 9 - [[Midlands|Midland]] – [[Birmingham]]
* Region 10 – [[North West England|North Western]] – [[Manchester]]
* Region 11 – [[Scotland]] – [[Glasgow]]
* Region 12 – [[Northern Ireland]] – [[Belfast]]

==Medals==
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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gc-database.co.uk/facts.htm|title=George Cross Database - GC facts and statistics|first=Chameleon HH Publishing Ltd|last=www.chameleonhh.co.uk|website=www.gc-database.co.uk|access-date=2007-11-20|archive-date=2009-10-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091003180644/http://www.gc-database.co.uk/facts.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Gallery of ARP photographs==
<gallery>
File:Issue of Gas Masks To British Civilians, 1940 HU103753.jpg|Issue of gas masks to British civilians, 1940
File:Tea and buns are supplied by local Air Raid Precautions (ARP) workers to fellow ARP workers and civilians in this basement shelter in South East London during 1940. D1623.jpg|Tea and buns are supplied by local ARP workers to fellow workers and civilians in a basement shelter in south east London, 1940
File:Air Raid Precautions, 1940 HU104525.jpg|ARP control room, Nottingham, 1940
File:Air Raid Precautions Dog at work in Poplar, London, England, 1941 D5945.jpg|Air Raid Precautions dog at work in Poplar, London, England, 1941
File:Air Raid Precautions, 1940 HU104542.jpg|Ambulance drivers knit and listen to a wireless while they await a call out to air raid incidents in 1940
File:Air Raid Precautions and Civil Defence in Wartime Britain, 1942 D10588.jpg|Adjusting blackout curtains in 1943
File:Air Raid Precautions in Central London, England, UK, 1941 D3606.jpg|Encased equestrian statue of Charles I in Trafalgar Square with a notice giving directions to the nearest public air raid shelter
File:Air Raid Precautions on the British Home Front- the work of the Gas Cleansing Centre, Wandsworth, London, England, 1941 D3919.jpg|Training exercise at a Gas Cleansing Centre, Wandsworth, London, England, 1941
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Commons category}}
* [[Civil defense siren#United Kingdom|Air raid siren]]
* [[Air raid shelter]]
* [[Auxiliary Fire Service]]
* [[Civil Defence Service]]
* [[Strategic bombing during World War II]]
* [[The Blitz]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Mike Brown: ''Put That Light Out!: Britain's Civil Defence Services at War 1939–1945''.  Sutton Publishing Ltd 1999, {{ISBN|978-0750922104}}.
* [http://www.spartacus-educational.com/2WWarp.htm Basic information about the ARP in the UK] – Spartacus Educational.

==External links==
* [http://ssa.nls.uk/film.cfm?fid=0031 ''ARP Schools''] (c. 1940)
* [http://ssa.nls.uk/film.cfm?fid=276 ''ARP: A Reminder for Peacetime''] (c. 1940) (archive films from the National Library of Scotland: Scottish Screen Archive)
* [https://www.ww2civildefence.co.uk/ ''WW2 Civil Defence Uniforms, Insignia & Equipment'']
* [https://digitalcollections.museumofflight.org/collections/show/1043 World War II Air Raid Warden Materials] at The Museum of Flight Digital Collections

{{The Blitz}}
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[[Category:Civil defence organisations based in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:20th century in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1924 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1924]]
[[Category:United Kingdom home front during World War II]]
[[Category:British Defence Forces]]