Air Raid Precaution (Wardens)

Air Raid Precautions (ARP) was an organisation in the United Kingdom set up as an aid in the prelude to the Second World War dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air-raids.

It was created in 1924 as a response to the fears about the growing threat from the development of bomber aircraft.

In April 1937 the government decided to create an Air Raid Wardens' Service and during the next year recruited around 200,000 volunteers.

The duties of an Air Raid Warden included: Ensuring that the blackout was observed, sounding air raid sirens, ensuring that people went into public air raid shelters in an orderly fashion, checking gas masks, evacuating areas around unexploded bombs as well as helping to rescue casualties from bomb damaged properties, finding accomodation for people who had been bombed out, judging the extent and type of damage and informing the Control Centre to send out the rescue services.

Many of the practices and ideals set forth by the ARP lived on beyond the War through Civil Defence during the Cold war and still exist today in civilian organizations in the United Kingdom and United States.

Amblecote Wardens Post 5

ARP card