Previously, I requested information about the "Hitler Hate Club" badges. I had a recent reply from Richard Briggs which I thought worthy of a standalone blog rather than just leaving as a comment on the original post.
"I am aware that nearly 600 of these badges were found in an attic in a house in Jersey. A friend of mine bought the entire collection from the chap that found them in or around 1998. I presume they were local to Jersey residents and once occupied by the Germans were hidden away. He sold most of them over the years and I have the last remaining 47. There were mainly half moon buttonhole backed but there were a few pin back which we assume were for ladies."
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There is a limited amount of background detail for this photo but interesting to see bluettes and battledress in the same photo plus the ARP nursing uniforms. The ARP breast badge on the bluettes appears to be quite high above the pocket.
Behind the Cordon - Air Raid Precautions / Civil Defence, Emergency Services & Civilian Interactions with Unexploded Bombs in World World Two is a new book by Chris Ransted.
“Behind the Cordon” provides an in-depth review of the dangers faced by Civil Defence personnel from German air-dropped ordnance plus the risks associated with aircraft crash sites (both Allied and German) during the Second World War. It was the job of the military to defuse bombs but it was the Civil Defence Services that reacted to reports from the general public about unexploded bombs. An overview of German bombs and mines is provided as well as the methods employed to defuse bombs by Royal Engineers' bomb disposal teams. Of particular interest is the chapter on Bomb Reconnaissance Training that many ARP volunteers took for locating buried bombs. There are photos of the development of bomb reconnaissance insignia as well. The book is packed with period photos and documents and is a must-have for your library if you're interested in Civil Defence during the war. The book is available from Key Publishing now. For those interested in unexploded ordnance and V-weapons, the author has previously published Bomb Disposal in World War Two and Disarming Hitler's V Weapons: Bomb Disposal, the V1 and V2 rockets. Positioned on a vehicle's left (unused) headlamp, this 'W' blackout filter would allow services and police to know the car belonged to a warden.
Various letters for other services were available. In the London Civil Defence Region, senior supervisory positions within the Wardens’ Service wore white helmets with black bands front to rear (with space for a two-inch high "W" on the front and rear of the helmet). A Chief Warden wore a white helmet with two black bands, each one inch wide and placed ½ inch apart. The role of a District Warden (in London) or Divisional Warden (everywhere else after mid-1942) wore a single two-inch black band (although this was reduced to one inch later in 1942). The general rule was that the second in command would wear the same marking on their helmet as their boss, the idea was that if, for example, the Chief Warden wasn't present, the Deputy Chief Warden could be easily identified at an incident. It appears some Chief Wardens were not overly happy with this arrangement and their deputies were instructed to add "DEP." or "DEPUTY" above the "W". This would also cascade to the junior supervisory positions with the Deputy Head Warden having DH above the W or similar. Before standardisation was introduced across the country in mid-1942, outside of London senior ranks used one, two or three diamonds. Although an attempt was made to use the London marking across the whole country in the middle of 1942 it’s surprising how many helmets have survived bearing the rank diamonds. Thanks to Adrian Blake for the content idea. Adrian is co-author of "Helmets of the Home Front".
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