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.