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Several collections of ARP and Police reports from Eastbourne have recently been listed for sale on eBay. The various files include wardens' reports, report centre filings and follow up letters from the the police. I pulled out two documents from the 7 October, 1940. At approximately 10:40 AM a high explosive (H.E.) bomb caused extensive damage to numbers 81 and 83 Enys Road. The houses were virtually demolished by the explosion. In the vicinity there was also a delayed action bomb (that later exploded) and an oil bomb that ignited on a house on Carew Road but which was extinguished. I assume the three events were from the same raider. It appears that there were no serious casualties. New flats were built on the site of the demolished houses.  Report Centre Message Form  Eastbourne Police Report  Flats built on 81 to 83 Enys Road, Eastbourne
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Interesting items from Currys (yep, still going...) for the Anderson shelter including portable radios, Thermos flasks, camp beds and electric fires. The portable radio is priced at £8 and 10s, which if we go by 1940 date is the equivalent of over £400 today (2026).  How To Light Your Anderson Shelter  Items for the Anderson shelter Although the badge cannot be seen in detail, I am presuming that this Incident Officer Warden is wearing the oblong old gold on black 'INSTRUCTOR' badge. The gentleman to the left possibly has the CD breast badge issued for wear on gabardine coats on his battledress blouse, something I don't believe I've seen before.  Civil Defence 'Instructor' Sleeve Insignia The air raid histories written shortly after the war include a wealth of information about the running of the Civil Defence Services. I recently obtained a copy of the book covering events in the city of Gloucester. It's full of detail but this short piece about air raid warning messages and colours is most interesting. "The siren was operated immediately the "Action Warning" message was received and this was timed to give not less than five minutes warning to that part of the district nearest the raiders’ line of approach. Some departments, however, e.g. A.R.P. organisations, both local and industrial, needed a longer interval than five minutes in which to make necessary preparations; to these an earlier message, called the Preliminary Caution, was sent, possibly about ten minutes before the Action Warning. This was kept confidential and was never divulged to the public. Other messages in the early days are given below: Preliminary Caution; was Air Raid message YELLOW Action Warning; was Air Raid message RED Raiders Passed; was Air Raid message GREEN Cancel Caution; was Air Raid message WHITE and most A.R.P. Headquarters, Posts and Depots devised a system of coloured lights or cardboard discs to correspond, so that all present could easily see the situation. In July 1940 an additional message, “Air Raid Message PURPLE” was introduced; issued only during the hours of blackout, this was a ‘lights’ warning, and on its receipt, all exempted lighting in docks, factories, transport undertakings, etc., had to be extinguished, and the Police might direct motorists to extinguish head lights. At the same time "Air Raid Message GREEN" was abolished, the WHITE serving the purpose of cancelling all messages which preceded it. In October 1941 the "Air Raid Message YELLOW" was abolished leaving only PURPLE, RED and WHITE, and these three remained throughout, except for certain modifications in 1944 to meet the new situation caused by flying bomb attacks. At the outset and for some considerable time thereafter, the messages were originated by Fighter Command, based on information received by them from the Royal Observer Corps. Finally, warnings were initiated direct by local warning officers of the R.O.C."  City of Gloucester Civil Defence history Someone is going to be disappointed when they find out this armband on eBay is a modern reproduction. The armband is based off an original wartime example (but that original had a screen-printed ARP emblem). The L.C.C. (LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL) 1939 has been added to fool people as have the aged-related marks. The armband is actually available on Soldier of Fortune's website for a tenner. The seller, I'll give them the benefit of doubt, may also be in the dark and think it's original. It is a common ploy to sprinkle original items in with the crap. The rest of items shown are original.  Fake L.C.C. 1939 Air Raid Warden Armband |
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