WW2 ARP & Civil Defence Uniforms, Headwear & Footwear
ARP wardens early in the second world war with unmarked helmets, ARP lapel badge and Civil Defence armband.
With the introduction of Air Raid Precautions training in February 1937, no uniforms were issued to newly-trained wardens; they wore their civilian clothes. Instead they received a silver ARP lapel badge and whilst on duty they also wore a helmet and armband (armband design was unregulated at this time and local authorities bought whatever designs they wanted, often with the local authority name printed on them).
As the threat of war developed, the ARP services were issued with a more robustly constructed gas mask. It was not until the start of the war that uniforms slowly filtered through to wardens and associated services - the first being the all-in-one bluette overalls.
These overalls featured red diamond and bar rank insignia on the lower sleeve (issued up to mid-1941). As the Civil Defence services (the ARP was rolled into the CD in 1941) became more organised, dark blue battledress (BD) uniform replaced the overalls and a new rank insignia was introduced. However, people still wore the overalls throughout the war.
The new insignia featured yellow bars and rank chevrons to denote a person's seniority within the various CD services. Certain ranks were also reflected by helmet colour and use of black bars. Additional insignia was introduced throughout the war for specific roles and attainments (e.g. Incident and Bomb Reconnaissance Officers).
It should be noted that even when regulations (such as ARP Memo 17) dictated how and where a certain badge should be worn not every person or local group adhered strictly to that dictate. Original photographs show a great variance in where insignia was worn.
As the threat of war developed, the ARP services were issued with a more robustly constructed gas mask. It was not until the start of the war that uniforms slowly filtered through to wardens and associated services - the first being the all-in-one bluette overalls.
These overalls featured red diamond and bar rank insignia on the lower sleeve (issued up to mid-1941). As the Civil Defence services (the ARP was rolled into the CD in 1941) became more organised, dark blue battledress (BD) uniform replaced the overalls and a new rank insignia was introduced. However, people still wore the overalls throughout the war.
The new insignia featured yellow bars and rank chevrons to denote a person's seniority within the various CD services. Certain ranks were also reflected by helmet colour and use of black bars. Additional insignia was introduced throughout the war for specific roles and attainments (e.g. Incident and Bomb Reconnaissance Officers).
It should be noted that even when regulations (such as ARP Memo 17) dictated how and where a certain badge should be worn not every person or local group adhered strictly to that dictate. Original photographs show a great variance in where insignia was worn.
WW2 ARP & Civil Defence Uniforms
