This OFFICER I/C ARP SERVICES armband OFFICER I/C CD SERVICES sleeve insignia is held at Chertsey Museum. I'd not seen either before. Also listed from the same donation are "Report And Control" shoulder titles for and the rank insignia of a thin bar over a wide.
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The Lambeth Shelter Marshal armband sold on eBay on 14 June 2020 for the princely sum of £510 (thankfully the item came with free postage...). In total there were 25 bids from eight different bidders. There is certainly a growing market for British home front memorabilia but I do not recall an armband reaching anything like the amount this one did. The same seller had a Paddington ARP Messenger armband that sold for £285.
Regularly appearing on eBay are mementos featuring German incendiary bomb fins. These "souvenirs" of various city blitzes usually all have a find plonked onto a block of wood and a made up label added for that extra level of "authenticity". From Coventry Cathedral to Liverpool Docks, the London Blitz to Southampton fire-bombing, fraudsters have been faking these items for years. The sad fact is that collectors new to the hobby fall victim to the fakes. It may well be a real incendiary fin (but again these are now reproduced - I've seen them for sale at £30 a pop at militaria fairs) but the provenance is completely made up. The one below isn't even German and claimed to be a captured French example dropped in Reigate... They often come from the very same sellers who always seem to have them available. The below sold on eBay in June 2020, fools and their money...
It is assumed that the badge below was a private purchase badge that was worn by member's of the Wardens' Service who had passed the LARP (Local Air Raid Precautions) instructors' course. The silver coloured enamel badge is regularly available but to date the below badge has not been seen on any period photographs. I have seen several of these badges over the years and they all appear to have the same style of manufacture.
A shelter ticket issued in 1942 for use in one of the Borough of Wandworth's ARP shelters. The current Tooting Bec London Underground station was originally called Trinity Road (changed name on 1 October 1950). The address shown is a couple of hundred yards from the tube station.
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