This interesting photo shows six members of the Civil Defence Service posing for the camera. Five of the six are wearing the austerity pattern (ARP Pattern 57A) battledress blouses with exposed buttons. Only one appears to have a beret badge (it looks to be the silver ARP badge). Apart from the standard CD breast badge, the only other additions are first world war ribbon bars and lanyards. No shoulder titles, rank chevrons, area titles or war service chevrons can be seen. It's possible the photo was taken after the issue of new uniforms (probably around the middle of 1943).
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I am indebted to David Priddis for sharing the below images. David's late father, John Edward ("Ted") Priddis, was a warden in Clapham during the war and took the three photos. The photos show bomb damage to the Wardens' Post at Atkins Road roundabout and local houses. He was not on duty the night the post was hit.
Ted Priddis was an electrical engineer and his position was considered a reserved occupation. He was turned down twice by the Royal Navy due to his occupation. He moved from Clapham to Digswell in Hertfordshire and then to Bushey, near Watford, where he was in the Home Guard (photo below taken on steps of the St. James Parish Hall, now "Falconer Hall", Bushey). He travelled to Germany shortly after the war ended to assist in getting the power supplies reconnected there. An interesting photo from Coltishall in north-east Norfolk. Possibly a stand-down photo (going by the five war service chevrons in evidence), the chap in the centre appears to have "D.A.O" on his white helmet with single black bar. He also has the three chevrons and a star which would denote a Depot Superintendent. He's with several ambulance personnel so perhaps DAO is Deputy Ambulance Officer or Depot Ambulance Officer; quite a rare helmet designation.
He and a few of the Rescue men also have a single six-pointed star on the left sleeve. I'm unaware of the meaning of this. The stars look the same size as those that would appear above rank chevrons. A local-specific award by the look. Image courtesy of John Parnell. An interesting photo shows members of the Civil Defence Corps (CDC) parading in Lune Street, Preston wearing wartime ARP Pattern 71 tunics. They are wearing the CDC badge on their berets. They may have been previous members of the Civil Defence Services who joined the CDC.
The date given by the Preston Digital Archive is c.1947 but it is probably the early 1950s. A battledress blouse was manufactured for female volunteers in the CDC but it was often remarked on as being highly unflattering. The vast majority of photos show the battledress being worn with a skirt and occasionally slacks. Image: Flickr - Preston Digital Archive Following an air raid, casualties in bombed buildings could be trapped beneath the rubble. If they were able to make a tapping sound then the Rescue Squads could endeavour to find and extricate them. Heavy Rescue Squads would look to ensure the buildings had been rendered safe to enter (by shoring walls etc) and the Light Rescue would tunnel through to the casualties, carry them out and pass them onto the first aid posts or to a hospital.
To assist in locating buried casualties, a Sound Locating Apparatus was devised in early 1942 to assist the Rescue Squads. This consisted of a truck with a crew of three which would be called from its base located at Metropolitan Electric Supply Company in Uxbridge. Called out by a Borough’s ARP Controller, the truck would arrive at the incident and set up various listening devices at a bombed building. The operator would require all other rescue work to cease for at least 10 minutes as they listened for any noise. From records, it appears not every rescue team was happy to stop their work to allow this. The success of the Sound Locating Apparatus appears to have been quite limited. In some incidents, the locating apparatus could not be deployed for several reasons. In some cases, the Civil Defence rescue dogs had already suggested where a casualty had been buried (in one particular case, this turned out to be a buried cat). In quite a number of cases the results were negative, as no casualties were present. A Ministry of Home Security report in January 1945, commented that the Sound Locating Apparatus “…cannot be regarded as a valuable aid to rescue work.” Thanks go to Chris Ransted for the information. |
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