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A roof spotter in the City of London scans the skies towards south London in September 1940. The spotters' general purpose was to warn their internal ARP team of the imminent arrival of enemy aircraft so work could continue until the last moment before staff were sent to the air raid shelters. Work would also not be interrupted by a false air raid alert. The west frontage of St. Paul's Cathedral is in the background. The black spire to his immediate right is that of St. Martin Ludgate on Ludgate Hill. The roof he is standing on is probably close to St. Bride's Church on Fleet Street. In the intervening years, the vast majority of the buildings behind the spotter in the Farringdon Street area have been demolished.  London Roof Spotter
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This Civil Defence Control manual issued by the County Borough of Brighton is a lovely survivor from WW2. It is full of detail about how to run a CD control room. It sold recently on eBay for £103 (including shipping) - a grand item for someone's CD library.  Brighton Civil Defence Control Manual A photograph (dated 2 February 1940) from the "Secrets of the ARP" series. This photo has the following information: "In the event of an emergency the London Area's Civil Defence organisation is controlled from one central control room. On receipt of an air raid warning on the teleprinter, direct from Fighter Command, the watch on duty immediately go to "battle stations". From this room there is direct communication to all A.R.P. group headquarters, Scotland Yard and the Home Office. From here the Operations Officer can transfer as many A.R.P. forces as necessary to cope with severe damage in any one quarter - this is known as "mutual assistance". The Regional Commissioners in charge of this whole operation are Sir Earnest Gowers K.C.B., K.B.E., and Admiral Sir Edward Evans, K.C.B., D.S.O., L.L.D. Photos shows: The Operations Officers (centre) and staff at work in the control room, showing the Current Events and Damage Maps." The location of the No. 5 (London) Region Control Room was beneath the Geological Museum, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London. It covered the 28 Metropolitan Boroughs in the London County Council (LCC) area, the City of London and the County Boroughs of Croydon, East and West Ham and the urban/rural councils in Essex, Middlesex, Surrey and Kent out to the boundary of the Metropolitan Police District.  London Civil Defence Region Plotting Room In the early hours of 31 May 1941, four bombs were dropped by German bombers across Dublin, with the North Strand area of the city the worst hit (Éire/Ireland was neutral during the Second World War). The bombing killed 28 people, with eight of them from a single family, the Brown’s. A further 90 were injured, 17 houses were destroyed and over 300 were damaged. It was the worst loss of life caused by a Luftwaffe raid. The Irish Government Information Bureau confirmed that the bombs were of "German origin” and a protest was made in the "strongest terms" to the German government. On 5 June 1941, a funeral was held for 12 of the victims, with Taoiseach Éamon de Valera and other government officials in attendance. The West German government accepted responsibility for the raid and paid compensation (using Marshall Aid money) to the families of the victims in the late 1950s.  Air raid damage in the North Strand area of Dublin, 1941 It often amazes me how items like the recruitment poster below can survive for nearly 90 years after being issued. It was one of a dozen designs released by the Stationery Office in the late 1930s to drive recruitment into the ARP services. I haven't been able to find out much about the graphic artist, Harrison, responsible for this poster The photograph, dated September 1938, shows this poster displayed at the bottom right.  'Train While There's Still Time' Pre-War ARP Recruitment Poster  Pre-war ARP recruitment posters in London |
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