Using the old gimmick of putting a fake item together with an original to create some sort of provenance, one of the usual shysters on eBay is currently hawking this tat--a fake Scout ARP armband with a real, but grotty, leather scout belt. The armband has previously been for sale on the tat bazaar but buyers appear to have twigged it was a copy. Alas, a number are falling for the job lot sale.
Update: someone wasted nearly £290 on this garbage...
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An interesting photo from Coltishall in north-east Norfolk. Possibly a stand-down photo (going by the five war service chevrons in evidence), the chap in the centre appears to have "D.A.O" on his white helmet with single black bar. He also has the three chevrons and a star which would denote a Depot Superintendent. He's with several ambulance personnel so perhaps DAO is Deputy Ambulance Officer or Depot Ambulance Officer; quite a rare helmet designation.
He and a few of the Rescue men also have a single six-pointed star on the left sleeve. I'm unaware of the meaning of this. The stars look the same size as those that would appear above rank chevrons. A local-specific award by the look. Image courtesy of John Parnell. One of the very best overviews of Air Raid Precautions and how the various organisations within Civil Defence were run can be found in Samuel Evelyn Thomas's Practical Guide for the Householder & Air-Raid Warden (first printed in 1939 by James Askew & Son). The 90-page booklet is quite detailed with several illustrations (it also re-used colour copies of the ARP cigarette cards). It is a great reference for how the Wardens' Service was set up and run. It also gives a great run-through of how the various first aid groups were set up and run in towns and rural areas.
The copy below is an original Fifth Edition (400th thousand) and goes to show how many were printed. Currently, I've seen editions with the eighth edition on the cover. Evelyn Thomas was a Group Warden from St. Albans and a prolific writer who wrote articles that appeared in many of the ARP / Civil Defence magazines of the day. He also published a guide to the Civil Defence Act of 1939, a rare booklet called the "Handy War-Time Guide", "Tactical Training in A.R.P.", as well as "Incident Cards", a training resource for incident officers. Well worth finding a copy and reproductions printed by the IWM are also available but contain only 32 pages. |
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