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A poster issued by the Ministry of Home Security. There's little information available about the Crop Fire Committees. I've tried locating the leaflet mentioned on the poster, but haven't come across it online yet.  "Fire Bombs! Guard The Cornfields" Poster
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Some of the most evocative photographs of bomb damage in London were taken by City of London policemen Arthur Cross and Fred Tibbs. Appointed just prior to the outbreak of war, Cross was the official police photographer to the police department. In September 1940, Tibbs joined Cross and they took photographs of the aftermath of the Luftwaffe’s bombing of London. In total, their collection includes 371 photographs taken between 1940 and 1945; with the majority taken during the period September 1940 to May 1941. They documented the damage inflicted on the city, the work of the Civil Defence services, the clearance work and the later V1 attacks in the summer of 1944. On 11 May 1941, PC Tibbs captured the iconic photo of the facades of 23 and 25 Queen Victoria Street collapsing into the street. Cross and Tibbs photographs can be viewed on the London Picture Archive website. As an aside, the Tibbs’ photograph was used for the basis of the “Panic in the Streets” painting by Geoff Taylor, used in the booklet that came with the LP of Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds, released in 1978.  The facades of 23 & 25 Queen Victoria Street collapse  Panic in the Streets An interesting photo of a warden (in bluette overalls) issuing earplugs to a member of the public. Going by the wording of the caption, the photo was taken before the Luftwaffe started its Blitz on British cities (pre-September 1940). Earplugs were available to be purchased and a examples crop online from time to time (see below).  ARP Warden Issuing Earplugs  ARP earplugs Although this armband came with no provenance, there exist a number of period WW2 photos showing similar armbands being worn. It is well-made example consisting of a very heavy duty red cotton canvas with the individual 'FIRE' letters sewn onto the armband. It is three inches high and has the integral tightening loop seen on other wartime armbands (especially those issued by the Bristol Aeroplane Co. Ltd.). This example sold on eBay for £31 (including shipping) in October 2025. UPDATE: it appears there has been some previous discussions online regarding the dating of similar FIRE armbands. The consensus is that they are post-war armbands issued by the British Army (with veterans claiming to have worn them in the late 1960s). The heavy duty nature of the material does lend itself more to military use than war issue.  Red armband with FIRE letters sewn on the front  Rear of red armband with FIRE letters sewn on the front  Interior of red armband with FIRE letters sewn on the front This example of a yellow with dark blur printed "AIR RAID WARDEN" plus ARP motif recently sold on eBay for £114 (plus shipping).  Yellow Air Raid Warden Armband |
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