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A memo issued in October 1940 by the Leeds Corps of Air Raid Wardens regarding badges of rank. The use of epaulettes for rank insignia during WW2 is quite rare on either the bluette overalls or battledress/tunics. A few county emblems are known, for example Hampshire and Warwickshire. The below memo covers the use of light blue, red, yellow and green bands on the epaulette to designate rank. Quite a complicated set of insignia and obviously some folk weren't happy with other lesser mortals having the same helmet marking as themselves and so needed additional insignia to smooth their egos... I've not seen any photographic evidence (yet) of these epaulette ranks in use. Document courtesy of Jon Mills.  Leeds Wardens' Service Badges of Rank on Epaulettes
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A couple of lovely survivors from my neck of woods were these two early-war magazines issued by Wardens' Post B21 in Lewisham. The pair sold for £50 on the tat bazaar recently. The warden shown top right has some sort of emblem/letters below the 'W' on his white helmet, but alas the resolution of the image makes determining exactly what it is hard to say. The magazines contained interesting snippets of information, from letters from readers and a local District Warden, sports and social news, illustrations and a few photographs of wardens. Very rare and great to see.  Lewisham ARP Wardens on Parade  Three Lewisham ARP Wardens  "B Twenty-One" Magazine - WW2 Lewisham ARP magazines A Second World War-period window display card for a member of a supplementary fire party. Created in the summer of 1940, Supplementary Fire Parties (SFP) were small teams of volunteers (numbering three to five members) formed to tackle small incendiary bomb fires, acting in support of the local AFS fire service. They wore a dark blue cotton armband with red screen-printed 'SFP' letters. From early 1941, they were also issued the Civilian Protective Helmet (more commonly known as the 'Zuckerman'), again with 'SFP' applied to the front. They were later merged into the Fire Guard in August 1941.  Member of Supplementary Fire Party Window Display Card From January, 1941 we have a letter from the local organiser of fire-watchers requesting the locals cough up some cash to buy ladders, scoops and hoes to help protect their homes in Forest Gare, east London. The last paragraph mentions a white armlet with F.SP. lettering. I initially thought this was a mistake and the writer meant S.F.P. (Supplementary Fire Party) but those armbands are on dark blue twill. Answers on a postcard to the usual competition address...  The Safety of Your House! Letter 1941 As a follow-up to the recent post on butterfly bombs, here's a Ministry of Home Security circular concerning the bombs. Image courtesy of a long-time supporter of this blog.  Beware of the Butterfly Bomb - Ministry of Home Security |
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