Air Raid Precautions (ARP) refers to a number of organisations and guidelines in the United Kingdom dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air raids. Government consideration for air raid precautions increased in the 1920s and 30s, with the Raid Wardens' Service set up in 1937 to report on bombing incidents. Every local council was responsible for organising ARP wardens, messengers, ambulance drivers, rescue parties, and liaison with police and fire brigades.
From 1 September 1939, ARP wardens enforced the "blackout". Heavy curtains and shutters were required on all private residences, commercial premises, and factories to prevent light escaping and so making them a possible marker for enemy bombers to locate their targets.
With increased enemy bombing during the Blitz, the ARP services were central in reporting and dealing with bombing incidents. They managed the air raid sirens and ensured people were directed to shelters. Women were involved in ARP services through the Women's Voluntary Service.
The Auxiliary Fire Service was set up in 1938 to support existing local fire services, which were amalgamated into a National Fire Service in 1941.
From 1941 the ARP officially changed its title to Civil Defence Service to reflect the wider range of roles it then encompassed. During the war almost 7,000 Civil Defence workers were killed. In all some 1.5 million men and women served within the organisation during World War Two. Over 127,000 full-time personnel were involved at the height of the Blitz but by the end of 1943 this had dropped to 70,000. The Civil Defence Service was stood down towards the end of the war in Europe on 2 May 1945.
Between 1949 and 1968 many of the duties of the Civil Defence Service were resurrected through the Civil Defence Corps.
Origins
During the First World War Britain was bombed by Zeppelins and Gotha bombers and it was predicted that large-scale aerial bombing of the civilian population would feature prominently in any future war. In 1924, the Committee of Imperial Defence set up a subcommittee to look at what measure could be taken to protect the civil population from aerial attack. The new committee, known as Air Raid Precautions, was headed by the then Lord Privy Seal, Sir John Anderson.
For the next ten years this committee looked into issues of new aerial weapons development and the possible impact on civilians. The use of gas attacks in the First World War played heavily on the decisions and protection via gas masks was a core decision taken by the committee. Every single person would need a gas mask which meant nearly 40 million would be required. Together with ideas around the building of air raid shelters, evacuations of people and blackout requirements these were all termed passive air defence.
With the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany's remilitarisation during the 1930s, a further Home Office committee, the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Department, was created in March 1935. This department replaced the earlier subcommittees and took overall control of the British response to passive air defence.
In April 1937, the Air Raid Wardens' Service was created which aimed to seek some 800,000 volunteers (some 200,000 people had joined by mid-1938, and following the Munich Crisis of September 1938 another 500,000 had enrolled). After the bombing of Guernica, Gaumont-British began distributing newsreels on air-raid safety to British cinemas. Wardens gave ARP advice to the public and were responsible for reporting bombs and other incidents, and were joined by the Women's Voluntary Service in May 1938. On 1 January 1938, the Air Raid Precautions Act came into force, compelling all local authorities to begin creating their own ARP services. Air raid shelters were distributed from 1938.
With the threat of war imminent in 1939, the Home Office issued dozens of leaflets advising people on how to protect themselves from the inevitable air war to follow.
ARP duties
The ARP services were to include several specialist branches:
Wardens
ARP wardens ensured the blackout was observed, sounded air raid sirens, safely guided people into public air raid shelters, issued and checked gas masks, evacuated areas around unexploded bombs, rescued people where possible from bomb damaged properties, located temporary accommodation for those who had been bombed out, and reported to their control centre about incidents, fires, etc. Also, they called in other services as required.
Report and control
Central headquarters that received information from wardens and messengers and managed the delivery of the relevant services needed to deal with each incident.