Unsung Heroes and Heroines of the Home Front: Working in Air Raid Precautions by Susanna Bavin 

Unsung Heroes and Heroines of the Home Front: 

Working in Air Raid Precautions

by Susanna Bavin 

‘Put that light out!’ Most of us instantly associate those words with life on the home front during the Second World War. Many of us probably picture Warden Hodges from Dad’s Army. Yes, the ARP wardens did patrol the blacked-out streets looking for slivers of light showing through tiny chinks in the curtains, but most people may not realise just how extensive the Air Raid Precautions work actually was.

ARP was an umbrella term for a range of different Civil Defence services, such as the wardens (like Mr Hodges); light and heavy rescue; demolition and decontamination parties; ambulance drivers and attendants; as well as the first aiders who either attended serious incidents or staffed first-aid posts. 

Youngsters could join the messenger service, cycling at top speed through the blackout, sometimes while the bombs were falling, to deliver information from one ARP station to another. The official age for joining was 15, but a keen 13- or 14-year-old might well be allowed to join unofficially. It was a dangerous job, and the bombs did not make allowances for age. 

The youngest ever person to be awarded the George Medal, which was instituted early in the Second World war, was 15-year-old Charity Ann Bick of the messenger service. Charity, who lived in West Bromwich, had joined when she was 14, having lied about her age. On the night in question she helped her father extinguish several incendiaries, after which, in order to pass vital information between ARP stations, she made several bicycle journeys of around a mile and a quarter. These journeys took place during the height of the air raid and several times she had to dismount and lie on the ground for safety. According to her citation, she ‘displayed outstanding courage and coolness in very trying circumstances.’

‘Very trying’ seems to me a very British way of describing an air raid!

Going back to our friend Warden Hodges, what other jobs would he have done aside from bellowing ‘Put that light out!’? As well as being closely involved in communication during raids, ARP wardens supervised the public air raid shelters and helped to dig out the dead and injured from the ruins of bombed houses. In the clear-up afterwards, they put up UNEXPLODED BOMB notices, checked damaged buildings to see how safe they were, and contributed to the ‘bomb census’. The aim was to record every bomb that detonated by noting its position on a hand-drawn map known as a ‘tracing’, so called because of being traced from an ordnance survey street map.

Advertisements in newspapers and women’s magazines quickly recognised the role of women in the ARP. Lifebuoy Toilet Soap showed a picture of a grubby-faced woman with an ARP tin helmet and a bath towel, while Mrs Peek’s Puddings asked, ‘Can a Warden be a Good Wife?’ at the top of a comic-strip style story of Mrs X, who fears she might have to resign from the ARP because her husband is vexed at having yet another cold dinner served up. Fortunately for her, her friend advises the use of Mrs Peek’s tinned puddings. The tale finishes with the happy husband thinking she must have resigned from her position, but she hasn’t had to – thanks to Peek Frean.

Having taken over the traditionally male jobs while the men were away, thousands upon thousands of women spent long days at work, followed by going out again to perform their wartime ARP duties as wardens, air raid shelter attendants and ambulance drivers. Oh yes, and they were expected to do all the housework, the shopping and the cooking as well; and those who had kept their children at home, instead of having them evacuated, had to care for their families as well.

When I say ‘ambulance drivers’, don’t necessarily imagine an actual ambulance. The standard ARP ambulance was a motorcar that towed a trailer with racks for stretchers. Part of the training involved two of these ambulances, complete with trailers, starting at different places about a mile apart with winding roads in between them. The new drivers had to negotiate this challenging route in the blackout and then pass one another safely.

When the air raid sounded, the only people who could officially be above ground were the various ARP services, the fire brigade and fire-watchers, and the police. The duty of the wardens was to patrol their designated streets and, as soon as a bomb fell, go to that place and determine the extent of the damage before sending for whatever other services would be needed.

And what were the rewards? According to a playground song of the time, ARP workers got their gas-mask without charge.

Under the spreading chestnut tree

Neville Chamberlain said to me:

If you want to get your gas-mask free,

Join the blinking ARP.

A jolly little song, but also jolly misleading. No one had to pay for their gas mask.

—

Susanna lives in Llandudno in North Wales with her husband and their rescue cats, but her writing is inspired by her Mancunian roots. She has written stories ever since she was a child and always wanted to be a published author. Susanna enjoys reading, walking and gardening and she loves living by the sea. She also writes as Maisie Thomas, for The Railway Girls series, and as Polly Heron, for The Surplus Girls series.

THE HOMEFRONT GIRLS

The war is raging in Europe. These girls will do everything they can on the home front – but is a happy ever after possible in such dark and uncertain times?

Manchester, 1940: The minute war was declared, best friends Sally and Deborah volunteered for the home guard, willing to do anything to help their boys fighting overseas. An Auxiliary Fire Service girl by night, Sally ends up stationed at the salvage depot by day. Working amidst the scrap metal and waste paper, helping to make do and mend, isn’t quite the glamorous life in uniform she’d imagined! But she’s determined to do her best, and turn saucepans into Spitfires.

When Sally meets Andrew, a quiet carpenter with a heart-breaking smile who understands how important her work is, she finally feels as though her efforts to keep calm and carry on are making a difference. As love blossoms, Sally feels herself opening up to Andrew in a way she’d never imagined possible.

But then, just as Sally feels as hopeful as she can be in these times of war, a devastating air raid threatens everything she holds dear. As bombs rain down all over Manchester, deadly fires begin to destroy homes, and lives. With Andrew out rescuing families from the rubble, Sally rushes towards the plumes of smoke that fill the night sky. And is horrified to realise the very worst hit area has the salvage yard right at its heart.

Desperate to help in any way she can, Sally, with her fellow salvage girls by her side, sets to work. But what will they find when the smoke clears? Will Sally and Andrew get the happy ending they so deserve? Or will her one chance at true love be lost forever as the morning dawns…?

A completely gripping and heart-breaking romantic saga. Perfect for fans of Rosie Clarke, Nancy Revell and Lizzie Lane.

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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing