A small piece about the introduction of new Civil Defence badges in the September 30th, 1941 edition of The War Illustrated magazine (Vol. 5, No. 107). It also details the name change from Air Raid Precautions (A.R.P.) to Civil Defence Services. Interesting is the colour of the private purchase shirt and tie to be worn if the battledress jacket was to be worn open for senior supervisory ranks - "...a light blue or grey shirt and collar and a plain dark blue tie."
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The below hand-drawn map of Abingdon details the various Civil Defence depots and centres. The various symbols are used to depict the service in operation at that location.
The small circles with numbers are, I assume, wardens' posts (usually these were denoted by a W with a dot above). F in square = Fire Station F in triangle = Not sure but probably fire related Red cross = First Aid Post Crossed black flags in circle = Main Report Centre Black flags = Report Centre DV = Vehicle Decontamination Depot S in two circles = General ARP Stores Depot RS in square = Local Respirator Store R2 = Rescue Depot (with two rescue squads) D2 = Decontamination Depot (with two cleansing parties) Wide cross in box with no top line = Manual Telephone Exchange Dot in square = Not sure, possible warden related Not entirely sure what the Action Stations in pencil refer to. Map is currently for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of £90. Going by the bluette overalls and ladies' warden coat this is probably a pre-1941 group photo. Of interest is the messenger on the far right. It would appear that he has affixed a couple of lamps to his bicycle, one of which appears to have the outline of the letter M. I have seen the use of letters on blackout hoods on vehicles before (such as A on ambulances) but this is the first time I've seen it on a bicycle.
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