Home Defence
| |
Home Defence |
|
| Top of Page |
National Service |
The first National Service Acts were passed during the Second World War. However, following the war, conscription was extended as peacetime National Service. This was due in part to an unstable international situation, as well as to Britain's responsibilities in the commonwealth and empire. The 1948 National Service Act, effective from 1st January 1949, fixed the period of National Service to eighteen months with four years in the reserves. In 1950, the Korean War led to a further amendment increasing the period of service to two years, with three and a half years in the reserves. Men in Northern Ireland were excluded from the National Service Act. |
| Top of Page |
The Home Guard |
For many people today, especially those who are under the age of 30 or so, the name 'Home Guard' may well conjure up the image Captain Mainwaring and the platoon of Dad's Army - a collection of sweet old gentlemen and younger men, unfit for service for one reason or another,
or in reserved occupations (those jobs vital to the war effort),
all wearing the British soldier's uniform and going about each day drilling and getting up to various capers. People over the age of 30 or so, and most definitely those who were there, or were involved, would tell you that 'Dad's Army' could not have been further from the truth.
On 14th May, 1940, four days after the German Blitzkrieg started in France and the Low Countries, Mr Anthony Eden, the Secretary of State for War, gave a BBC broadcast. The effect was immediate and overwhelming. Even before he had finished speaking, queues were forming at local Police Stations throughout the country. Within 24 hours, over a quarter of a million men had volunteered for service. The Home Guard was formed with the intention of delaying an enemy invading force for as long as possible to give the Government and the regular army time to form a front line from which the enemy invasion could be repelled. They were the last line of defence, and were prepared to do everything in their power to stop the enemy. There was a possibility of some of the Home Guard to be reformed as an underground resistance movement - a private commando force, and to that end it was necessary that every man knew every local hedge, ditch, culvert, drainage system, railway routes, and bridges within a five mile radius of their places of residence. Every man who took part had to conform with the Official Secrets Act. |
"We want large numbers of such men in Great Britain who are British subjects, between the ages of seventeen and sixty-five, to come forward now and offer their services in order to make assurance [that any invasion would fail] doubly sure. The name of the new force which is now to be raised will be the Local Defence Volunteers. |
 |
The Home Guard also served as a cover for the Auxiliary Units, a force of more highly trained volunteer troops that would function as guerilla units if the UK was invaded.
The Home Guard also did not, initially, admit women to its ranks. Some women formed their own Amazon Defence Corps. |
The 1st Essex Battalion Home Guard covered the south-east of the county from Wickford to Foulness, including Canvey Island and Southend-on-Sea, until September 1942 when the latter became a battalion (16th) in its own right. |
The Resistance Movement |
Out if the half-dozen or so sizeable woods in Hockley, Essex, the Royal Engineers had excavated a hideout of some thirty feet by twelve under the ground in Trinity Woods for the Hockley patrol. The hole was lined with very thick gavanised corrugated iron, the ceiling or roof rounded in order to stand the pressure of soil which was replaced on top to bring the whole area back to its original level with the surrounding land. A square lid covered the three-foot wide entrance, where a ladder was fixed, and shrubs and bushes were replanted, bluebells were set, and the ground given a covering of leaves - rendering the whole thing invisible.
The hideout made habitable; cupboards for food storage (with food stores to last the patrol crew for up to three months), water tanks, and shelves were erected to take the piles of explosives, detonators, detonating cord and fuses, all kinds of booby trap switches, hand grenades, smoke bombs, thunder flashes - everything a resistance movement could wish for. Each man was issued with a revolver - it was said that this was a directive from Winston Churchill, for the sole purpose of protecting the secrecy of the movement. It was suggested that they might have to shoot the local constable if he fell under enemy control - the police were never let into the secret of the whereabouts of the hideout, but they had vague suspicions about activities in the woods. It was also suggested that the revolver should be used to shoot themselves if cornered. The men selected for the underground movement received intensive training of unarmed combat, the intricate use of explosives, the art of night scouting, and many other skills, at an establishment near Swindon. |
Weapons |
Initially the LDV were very poorly armed, since the regular forces had priority for the weapons and equipment available. Their original role had largely been to observe and report enemy movements but it swiftly changed to a more aggressive role. Nevertheless they would have been expected to fight well-trained and equipped troops with negligible training and weapons such as pitchforks and shotguns or firearms that belonged in a museum. Patrols were carried out on foot, by bicycle, even on horseback, and often without uniforms, although all volunteers wore an armband that said "LDV". There were also river patrols using the private craft of members. Many officers from the First World War used their Webley Mk VI .455 revolvers. There were also numerous private attempts to produce armoured vehicles by adding steel plates to cars or lorries, often armed with machine guns. For many, their tasks included manning aircraft batteries, patrolling the waterways and canals, railways, fatcories, aerodromes and the coastline. One of the reasons for the patrols was to enable them to intercept German parachutists. They were very hands-on, too, with the clearance of debrisand searching through the rubble for trapped civilians following an air raid. Many were also instrumental in the construction of concrete pill-boxes and the laying of anti-tank obstacles. All but a few members would work all day in their full time jobs and then (later that evening) take up their Home Guard duties. It was also extremely dangerous too, with some 1206 members killed whilst serving on duty and 557 seriously wounded. |
The Lee Enfield rifle was the standard issue rifle to the British Army during World War One and World War Two. It was seen as so reliable and robust that it was issued to the Home Guard.The Lee Enfield was first produced in 1907; it had been designed by an American called James Lee and built at the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield - hence the rifle's name. The Lee Enfield enjoyed a good reputation with those who were issued with it. It had a ten-bullet magazine and its rate of fire in the hands of well-trained men was high. The Lee Enfield was so highly thought of that it was the standard issue rifle to infantrymen in the British Army in World War Two, some twenty years after World War One. Its robust nature meant that it was issued to the Home Guard. The Home Guard manual had a 28-page section on the Lee Enfield that covered how to fire it, how to keep the rifle clean, how to load the rifle, judging distance and overall rifle maintenance. The .303 ammunition it used was also used in the Lewis Gun and the Bren Gun, which some Home Guard units also received. |
 |
The Home Guard was issued with 'official' grenades in World War Two but also had to make do with homemade variants. The service grenade for the Home Guard then was the 36 HE grenade – better known as the Mills grenade. |
 |
The Mills grenade was primarily designed for throwing but it could be fired from a rifle, which had been fitted with a discharger. It had a seven seconds delay between the release of the handle and it exploding, though this was later reduced to just five seconds. The Mills grenade could be thrown a distance of about 30 metres and the so-called danger area around the explosion expanded for about 20 metres. If it was fired from a rifle, the grenade could travel about 175 metres. Depending on the lay of the land, shrapnel could injure individuals up to a distance of about 75 metres and it was particularly dangerous on stony and rocky terrain. The Mills grenade was made out of cast iron and live grenades were painted black or brown with a red ring painted round the top about the fitting screw. The explosive in it was either amatol or baratol. |
Homemade grenades were divided into three groups. The first were blast offensive grenades. These were grenades that simply blew up and created a blast that incapacitated anyone who was near them when they exploded. They were made out of a stick of gelignite with a detonator and fuse. The safety fuse was cut to a length of two to three inches, which gave the thrower between five and seven seconds to take cover. A detonator was put into a stick of gelignite to make it live. The second variant was the jam-tin grenade. These were grenades designed to create debilitating shrapnel and could be thrown about 30 metres. Gelignite was placed at the bottom of a tin and nails, bolts etc were packed around it. Once filled, the tin had its lid put back on except that it had a hole in it through which the detonator went. Adhesive tape then kept the lid on. |
The third type of grenade was the pipe grenade. A piece of one-inch galvanised pipe was used – the type of piping used for water and gas pipes. The pipe was cut into four-inch strips and gelignite was put into the pipe and secured with adhesive tape. A detonator was then applied and also secured by tape. Though this type of grenade produced much less shrapnel, what shrapnel it did produce went at a far greater velocity than the two variants above. All three grenades had one major drawback. The fuse had to be lit by a match and in windy or rainy conditions this could prove difficult. To get round this the Home Guard used to soak the head of the fuse in the mixture that made a match head. The fuse was then allowed to dry and, when required, simply striking it on some stony surface could light it. |
 |
The Home Guard also produced their own Molotov cocktails and 'Sticky' bombs. |
Winston Churchill once said, in one of his speeches in 1940: |
| Top of Page |
The RAFVR |
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Formed in 1939, service records are still held by the Ministry of Defence. RAF Reserves fall into two basic categories, Reserve following active service and Volunteer Reserves: Reserve following active service When joining the RAF on a short service commission, it is normal for the person's service to consist of a period of active service followed by a fixed period of mandatory reserve. The spilt between these two elements has varied over time depending on a number of factors including finances and the increasing complexity of the service and equipment operated. The Reserve of Air Force Officers was given the prefix 'Royal' on 1st April 1997. Volunteer Reserves The earliest forms of volunteer reserve in the RAF were the Special Reserve and Auxiliary Air Force. The Special Reserve was absorbed into the Auxiliary Air Force in 1936 and the AuxAF was given the 'Royal' prefix in 1947. |
| Top of Page |
What many people do not know, or even appreciate if they have the knowledge, is the fact that it is as far back as the month of June 1936, that the nucleus of the present-day defence services was formed, and its growth is not, as some seem to think, the outcome of the September crisis of 1939. Perhaps the following details will help clarify the position. It was May 1936, that the then Chief Inspector of the Borough Police, Mr. E. Hawkins underwent a fortnight's course in the Government's anti-gas training school and the following month began to instruct members of the Borough Police, and later members of the Special Constabulary and the Fire Brigade. The Southend Section Station Officer of the Fire Brigade, Mr. W. Collow, also took the course and joined in the instruction. It is really from that start the A.R.P. has grown in the Borough. The next step was to set up a seperate A.R.P. department in the town to ensure co-operation in existing services and to extend, or rather organize, other sections of defence work which were equally as important. |
 |
|
The establishment of proper headquarters and the appointment of an A.R.P. Officer for the Borough (Col. O.N. Buckland) followed in September 1937, and the offices were opened in Warrior Square. Instruction to Police, Fire Brigade members and ancillary bodies continued and increased, and gradually other classes were instructed as further men were able to take the fortnight's course at the Government's school. All the time auxillary firemen were being enrolled and special constables sworn in before the appeal was made in September, 1937, for personnel to man the full services essential for civil defence - air raid wardens, messengers, first-aid squads, rescue and demolition squads, transport, control and report centres, etc. |
|
Based on Home Office calculations, requirements were worked out and published as to how many volunteers - men and women - were required. Week-by-week the strength was built up. The Special Constables, with the Chief Constable at their head, were enrolled and trained and the Auxillary Fire Brigade members under the Chief Officer, quickly increased until the whole town was covered with sub-stations and efficiently trained men. The Medical Officer (Dr. C. Grant Pugh) undertook the organizations of the first-alert units and ambulance services, in conjunction with the St. John Ambulance Brigade, and the Corporation Transport Manager took control of the transport side of the work. The Warrior square offices had become too small before many months had elapsed, and the A.R.P. headquarters were moved to No. 120 Victoria Avenue. |
Training for various services other than those mentioned were increased as anti-gas precaution instructors were forthcoming, and as many as 23 classes a week were held. Wardens were one of the chief concerns, for each part of the town was divided into sectors and the aim was for a warden for each two or three streets. |
Report and control centres were established in the east, centre and west of the Borough, the decontamination and rescue squad was localized by another centre, first-aid posts, auxillary fire stations, etc, were established and manned. The skeleton scheme, covering all services, was worked out on paper, and then effort had been concentrated on obtaining and training the personnel required. Certain parts of the services had become full-time jobs with pay, and since the declaration of war this was increased. Commander E.C. Withers, then the Borough A.R.P. Officer, told a local newspaper that the arrival of the emergency for which they had been preparing had found the town with a well-organized system of protection for the public. |
|
A high proportion of the ARP force comprised quite elderly men and women who volunteered for tasks demanding vast surges of immense courage when dealing with appalling acts of cruelty. They would endure horrific moments when friends were engulfed by roaring conflagrations or walls tottered and, without flinching, take enormous risks. The backbone of the force was always the Air Raid Warden, who donned a black tin helmet and arm band. They would use whistles, wooden rattles or even handbells to warn folk of a raid. |
The Police, together with Air Raid Wardens were responsible for alerting the public to potential bombing raids during the Second World War. To do this, special mechanical sirens were used. By turning the handle, special "horns" inside the machine with air-holes in them were caused to rotate at great speed, thus creating a deafening wailing noise, which changed in pitch the faster the handle was turned. |
 |
| Top of Page |
Searchlight |
The 444th Company of the T.A. and the 2nd/6th Battalion of the 65th Searchlight Regiment occupied the Drill Hall in East Street, Prittlewell. The Stationmaster's House opposite was used as headquarters for the regiment (Col. P. L. Grimwood and Major G. W. Hogsflesh were the officers commanding). |
The house itself was a large detached on the 'island' between East Street and the approach road to Prittlewell railway station. It had wooden-framed sash windows and was heated by coal fires (no central heating nor hot water tanks were ever installed up to the time it was demolished). There were two 'living' rooms downstairs, plus a scullery and a larder. Upstairs were three rooms, and an attic above those. There was also a cellar (allegedly) that was used for the storage of munitions. Outside the huge back door was a coal shed and a toilet. The house was occupied by the stationmaster of Prittlewell Station (Mr. Robert James Corneby) in 1943 who sought permission to fill in the trenches that had been dug at the railway end of the property, and through the following years, turned it into a most wonderful flower garden. |
 |
The house was demolished to prevent squatters moving in after the stationmaster passed away in the 1990s, the premise being to build flats for the elderly on the site. The advertisement board for the flats can still be seen today from the pavement, deep in the undergrowth. |
WW II searchlights formed part of a system of aircraft detection linking (a) locator devices, (b) searchlights, and (c) antiaircraft (AAA) guns. The locators sent electronic information to the lights and guns, which in turn tracked the target in synch with each other. |
 |
Once a locator of any of the aforementioned types had "locked on" to an aerial target, the concept was for both lights and guns to be trained on the target (via the height and distance data received from the locator) so the target could be nearly simultaneously illuminated and then destroyed. Locators were first based on sound and heat detection, and ultimately radar became the preferred method of target acquisition. Units were generally separate, but advances in radar technology late in the war saw the integration of radar into both searchlight and AAA gun designs. Anti-aircraft artillery accuracy was at stake, both from tactical and economic points of view. In 1940, in England, for example, it took an average of 20,000 rounds of ammunition to down a single enemy aircraft! |
| The demand for more accurate methods of engaging, tracking, and destroying aircraft, especially at night, was driven by the need to destroy more targets without expending lots of ammunition. The Searchlight Control Station The searchlight control station was operated by three men. It was used to aim the searchlight by hard-wired remote control. The control station was placed several hundred feet away from a searchlight so that the controllers could see illuminated aircraft better (since the light beam was so bright, vision would be adversely effected if the control station and its operators set up too close to the searchlight; all that would be visible would be the cone of illuminated atmospheric particles in the path of the beam). The controllers were situated far from the light for another reason - safety. Searchlights made easy targets. Electric signals from the sound, heat, or radar locators were sent to the searchlight control station using a selsyn-type system. The signals went to the zero-locator meters that were on top of the station. Two of the operators monitored the zero-locator meters (there was one for direction and one for elevation) and were charged with keeping the meters on a zero reading using hand cranks on the side of the unit (in the photo above, the men standing to either side of the unit are performing this function). Keeping these meters set at zero kept the control station and searchlight in synch with the locator device (sound, heat, or radar locator) in terms of the direction and elevation readings of the aerial targets. The third man on the controller crew was the observer. He wore a special harness over his head that physically connected him to the controller and allowed him to look through the controller's binoculars. As the controller was aimed by the other crew-members monitoring the zero-locator meters, the observer was forced to visually look at the point where the target was computed to be (in the same direction and elevation that the locators were aimed at). Once the observer was able to spot the enemy aircraft in the binoculars, he would then take full control of the station using the crank controls located in front of him. These controls were directly connected to the same crank controls the two other operators used to aim the station. Using the control station, he would now send selsyn signals to the searchlight so it would track the observer's actions. The observer could also throw a switch on the control station so the searchlight could accept selsyn control signals directly from the locator device, whether it was a sound, heat, or radar locator. Finally, the signals from the control station or location-detection device are sent to the searchlight. In the photo at right, the searchlight operator is busy adjusting the light. His duties would also include maintaining all aspects of the light and the generator that supplies the power to it. The operator throws the switch to start the arc burning when commanded to do so by the control station operator. He ensures that the carbons that create the arc are burning correctly and that the beam is focused. In the event of a communication failure, he is able to control the light by using a long, 10ft. long rod with a wheel on the end. With this rod, he can walk the searchlight in the direction he wants and turn the wheel to raise or lower the light to the elevation he wants. The 10-foot distance gives the operator a better view of the object since he's somewhat out of the direct path of the beam. |
WWII Searchlights information courtesy of Skylighters
|
| Top of Page |
Pill Boxes |
The stretch of the coastline, north of Southend, is naturally protected by sandbanks and mud flats which have become the graveyard of many ships in the past. But the countryside itself is generally flat with wide expanses of almost perfect terrain for paratroops to land, assemble and attack. Rochford Airfield, established as a landing ground for the Royal Flying Corps during World War One, was again requisitioned at the outbreak of World War Two and by 1940 had become an important fighter station. However, if it were to be taken by a surprise paratroop attack, this lynch-pin of local air defence could become an open door to the otherwise formidable coastal defences of Southend. The answer to the airfield’s defence came in... pillboxes. Lots of them. Hexagonal pillboxes, mushroom-shaped pillboxes, anti-aircraft pillboxes and some specially designed for the job. Between the runways, retractable pillboxes, known as Pickett-Hamilton Forts, were emplaced in the grass. The idea behind the Pickett-Hamilton fort was that of surprise. Designed to be manned by two gunners (although in pre-hydraulic operation it took four men four seconds to raise the fort to its operating position), the whole affair was lowered into the ground and accessed by the drain-like hatch in the roof. The immediate problems with the forts were the difficulties in supplying ammunition during action, and the nature of this 'pot in the ground' was that it often filled with water, not having draining facilities, and so were almost constantly having to be pumped out. On the perimeter, pillboxes stood to the north, south, east and west. In the fields of the surrounding parishes almost every piece of open ground had its sentinel pillbox. In all, as many as fifty pillboxes were built within a radius of three miles from the airfield. To the north-east, at Canewdon, the military had the same problem. One of the country’s first ‘Chain Home’ stations had been established, the naturally open landscape which made the area ideal for the siting of a radar station made it, just like the airfield, particularly vulnerable to an airborne attack. Again, the answer came in pillboxes. In an area of less than one square mile, at least twenty-one of these squat machine-gun emplacements were constructed, guarding both parts of the site with inter-locking fields of fire from their loopholes. Many German bombers passing over Rochford on their way to bomb London in 1940 must have regretted the choice of route as they were bombarded by at least seven heavy anti-aircraft gun batteries. Crossing the coast at Foulness, they would be met by the 3.7 inch guns at Fisherman’s Head, Ridgemarsh Farm and New Burwood, the lethal shells reaching up to 23,000 feet and beyond. Leaving Foulness behind, the guns at Great Wakering and Sutton would open up, each firing 25 rounds per minute. Seconds later, these would be joined by the batteries of Hawkwell and Rayleigh. Many of the fifty pillboxes which protected the airfield are still extant. Between the runways, two of the three retractable type, the Pickett-Hamilton forts, are thought to remain embedded in the grass. Around the immediate perimeter, six pillboxes still survive including a rare "mushroom" type and an even rarer anti-aircraft type FW3/23. The underground rooms of the battle headquarters, to co-ordinate the defence of the airfield, are still there. Within a three-mile radius as many as twenty-three more pillboxes still guard the open fields. |
| Top of Page |
Anti-Aircraft |
To many people during World War Two, the roar of ack-ack guns in the night epitomised Britain hitting back; to show the enemy bombers that they were not going to get it all their own way. Across the country, anti-aircraft batteries fired millions of shells and Essex, sitting across the route to London, was home to a great many of them. Many German bombers passing over Rochford on their way to bomb London in 1940 must have regretted the choice of route as they were bombarded by at least seven heavy anti-aircraft gun batteries. Crossing the coast at Foulness, they would be met by the 3.7 inch guns at Fisherman’s Head, Ridgemarsh Farm and New Burwood, the lethal shells reaching up to 23,000 feet and beyond. Leaving Foulness behind, the guns at Great Wakering and Sutton would open up, each firing 25 rounds per minute. Seconds later, these would be joined by the batteries of Hawkwell and Rayleigh. |
| The Bofors Gun |
The Bofors anti-aircraft gun was developed by a Swedish company in the late twenties and in 1937 the War Office decided to buy 100 guns and 500,000 rounds of ammunition. This initial order was later followed by a license to build them in Britain. Production began before the outbreak of war but only 233 had been produced by September 1939, production was slow but rapidly increased to fill the increasing anti-aircraft requirements. The practical rate of fire is generally listed as 120 round per minute. Unlike other nations such as Germany, the British never held smaller calibre anti-aircraft weapons such as the 20mm in much regard as while generally having a higher rate of fire which meant a greater change of achieving a hit they lacked sufficient power to guarantee severe damage to the aircraft. |
 |
The anti-aircraft gun was fed information from a height-finder via a predictor. The height-finder would 'tell' the predictor the actual position of the target. In 1938 the Royal Aircraft establishment calculated that it would require 4 ounces of cyclonite to destroy a modern aircraft wing. A 20mm calibre weapon carries around 0.425 ounces while a Bofors 40mm round about 2 ounces. The 20mm was quite underpowered; trails against a Blenheim Bomber showed that 20mm ammunition generally only caused severe damage if it hit a vital area such as the controls or fuel tanks. Hits from a Bofors gun were generally much more severe. A semi armour piercing round was produced for the Bofors in 1941 followed by a full armour piercing round at the beginning of the next year. These rounds were to provide protection against enemy armoured vehicles such as tanks. Around a million of these rounds were produced by the United Kingdom during the war, I have not yet come across decent penetration figures yet, a May 1941 document gives around 25mm, 30 degrees, 1300 yards for what is probably the SAP round, the full AP round probably had performance similar to that of the 2 Pounder anti-tank gun.
|
| Top of Page |
Barrage Balloons |
On 5th September 1917, Major-General E.B. Ashmore, who commanded the London Air Defence Areas, put forward his scheme for a London Balloon Barrage system. He suggested an apron consisting of a row of balloons connected by cross wires and carrying weighted wire streamers. It got Government approval and he arranged to install two balloon aprons on the easterly borders of London, each consisting of five Caquot balloons disposed in a straight line 2,000 yards in length, with the balloons anchored to the ground at three seperate points and linked together by cable from which wire streamers 1,000 feet long were suspended. The balloon aprons were heavy and inflexible. Operating them turned out to be difficult and the weight when airborne was a potential menace to the people below. The presence of balloons did give reassurance to the civilians in wartime. In 1936 the Committee of Imperial Defence approved the idea of 450 barrage balloons being set up to defend London. This initiated an eventual national balloon defence organisation. It was to be set up by The Auxiliary Air Force, i.e. manned by non-regular volunteer staff. |
At the outbreak of war in September 1939 the idea had been approved for a total of 1450 balloons, but had only 624 in existence. Balloon production was 212 in September 1939 and fell to 148 in October. Production figures trebled as the months went by and by May 1940, they had at last achieved the pre-war target only to be faced with an imminent German invasion of France with Britain potentially next. It was at this time that waterborne balloons became to be used at ports and harbours. They were tethered to floating barges. |
 |
At the same time it kept the enemy at heights that kept them in the range of anti-aircraft fire. Balloon Command divided Britain on a geographical basis into Balloon Groups and each one of those was in turn subdivided into Balloon Centres staffed by squadrons of balloon operators who were responsible for the flying of the balloons. Each Centre was a depot for the supply and repair of equipment along with balloon maintenance. The balloons were not always flown from fixed static sites; Balloons were flown from barges, drifters and even mobile lorries. This meant that the barrage could be placed where it was most needed and ensured that land and sea areas were well protected. These seaborne balloons were designed to prevent enemy aircraft from dropping mines into the ports and harbours. At sea balloons were flown by the convoys using a mixture of naval and merchant seamen with the balloons being serviced by RAF personnel. Balloons flown at sea were a slightly smaller size than those flown on land. In 1940, balloon production was around 1200 balloons per month. By 1st August there were only 1,466 balloons spread across 52 operational squadrons, still nearly 400 below the expected figure.. At this time 2 mobile squadrons were being formed. The Balloons were flown by two corporals and ten airmen on a round the clock shift basis. In 1940 the idea was floated that balloons could be operated by WAAF's thus releasing men for active service in other areas. This idea was hotly contested by AOC Balloon Command and his WAAF Staff Officer. In April 1941 20 WAAF Balloon Fabric Operators were trained in London. In May 1941 the first batch of WAAF volunteers were posted to a 10 week training course at a balloon centre. Initially, the powers that be, working on the basis that 10 male balloon operators could only be replaced by at least 20 female balloon operators, began to substitute women for men in the squadrons.
The women rose to the challenge and showed that 14 women were quite capable of replacing 10 men and this was eventually settled as the correct figure. By December 1942, 10,000 men had been replaced by some 15,700 WAAF balloon operators. For those squadrons who went abroad to defend vital installations the operators were male. The first enemy aircraft brought down by the balloon barrage was on 13th September, 1940. This was a night time incident and this first German loss reliably attributed to the Balloon Barrage, was the loss of a Heinkel He 111, claimed by a mobile unit of 966 Squadron on station at Belle View Park, Monmouthshire. The plane was returning from a raid on Merseyside, when it struck the cable and plunged into a built-up area of the above district. On the ground two children were killed. Three of the aircraft's crew were killed, the pilot managed to bale out in time. The aircraft was destroyed. The flying of balloon barrages was finished in the United Kingdom in Autumn 1944. This led to the disbanding of Balloon Command in February 1945. |
| Top of Page |
Fire Watching |
| Compulsory firewatching in UK was introduced from Monday 20th January, 1941. All men and women from 16 to 60 must register for part-time Civil Defence service. For the time being, the only requirement will be 48 hours firewatching per month by men. Factories, offices, shops, cinemas, theatres, churches, blocks of flats and private houses in the danger areas are to arrange fire-watching rotas. Large buildings will provide their own watchers. Smaller premises will work together.
Around this date a new National Service Bill introduced. Because of manpower shortages those called up can opt for, or be directed to, serve in Police War Reserve, AFS or Civil Defence First Aid Parties instead of the armed forces. 90% of Civil Defence workers were volunteers. Compulsory Civil Defence service also applied to those registered "conditionally" as conscientious objectors. As well as being directed to continue their old jobs, work on the land or in hospital or ambulance service, they could be directed into CD but not Police War Reserve which sometimes carried arms. Since call-up began 31,000 out of 2,000,000 registered as objectors. |
| Top of Page |
Fire Services |
On the outbreak of the Second World War the British government were especially worried about the Luftwaffe dropping incendiary bombs. Fire was a huge threat to the British people, emergency firewater tanks were installed in many towns and where a large water supply such as a river was available pipes were laid to provide water for fire fighting. Some 86,000 stirrup pumps were distributed to local authorities and air-raid wardens were asked to arrange for local volunteer groups to be formed to help put out fires during bombing raids. |
|
This upset the Fire Brigades Union who were at the time trying to improve their members pay and conditions. Many of the ranks were made up of women, in March 1943 there were 32,200 women serving with the National Fire Service. For the part time fire fighters, men were on duty every fourth night and women every sixth night. During the war 793 fireman and 25 firewomen lost their lives and another 7,000 were seriously injured. This included a large number who were temporarily or permanently blinded by heat or sparks.
|
| Top of Page |
The WAAF - Women's Auxiliary Air Force |
The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) was formed in June 1939. The main reason for this service was to release men for combat posts. Initially their duties were few and chiefly of a domestic or clerical nature, reflecting the general male's view of a woman's place in society. The supposed frailty and subordinate role of WAAFs was reflected in the Air Ministry's view that they should be paid a third less than most equivalent male ranks and receive a smaller food ration. The work done by the WAAF covered virtually every activity carried out by men except flying. The WAAF constituted more than fifteen percent of the overall personnel strength of the RAF. At peak strength in mid-1943, they numbered 181,835 of whom one in 26 was an officer. |
|
By VE-Day, WAAFs served some 85 defined categories ranging from clerical, store-keeping, vehicle driving, engineering and barrage balloon handling. A vital task in which they excelled was air traffic and operations control. WAAF were to be found in most control rooms on combat, Sector and Group stations. |
| Top of Page |
The ATC - The Air Training Corps |
The Air Training Corp (ATC) has its origins in the Air Defence Cadet Corp (ADCC), which was formed in 1938, under the auspices of the air league of the British Empire (a body of astute private citizens formed to publicise the vital importance to Britain of aircraft for communications, commerce and defence). Now: The aim of the ATC is to teach displine, leadership skills and all this would make you a
better person later on in you cadet career. The advantage of the ATC is that they have all the expertise, qualified instructors and willingness to run a huge variety of events. Drill, Football, Rugby, Swimming, Athletics, Cross Country, Shooting (.22 and fullbore), Camps at RAF stations all over the UK, Camps in Germany, A Royal Marine course for a week at Frimley Park (very hard), Flying (Tutor Grobs, Sea King Helicoptors,) Bowling, Carting, Weeks away in places such as Windermere and Derbyshire, Night Exercises (where we all run around shout at each other and generally have fun!), and Adventure training camps such as Barnham and Proteus. |
| Top of Page |
The ATA - Air Transport Auxiliary |
Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British World War II civilian organisation that ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between UK factories, assembly plants, transatlantic delivery points, Maintenance Units (MU), scrap yards and active service squadrons and airfields, but not to aircraft carriers. Other transportation duties included flying service personnel on urgent duty from one place to another and air ambulance work.
The original idea was to transport mail and medical supplies. However the pilots were immediately needed to work with the Royal Air Force (RAF) ferry pools transporting aircraft. By 1st May 1940, they took over transporting all military aircraft from the factories to the Maintenance Units to have guns and accessories installed. On 1st August 1941, the ATA took over all ferry jobs. This freed the much-needed combat pilot for combat duty. Lord Beaverbrook, (Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook), gave an appropriate tribute at the closing ceremony disbanding the ATA. During the war, the service flew 415,000 hours and delivered over 308,000 aircraft of 130 types including Spitfires, Hawker Hurricanes, Mosquitoes, Mustangs, Lancasters, Halifaxes, Fairey Swordfish, Fairey Barracudas and Fortresses. The average aircraft strength of the ATA training schools was 78. Total of 133,247 hours were flown by school aircraft and 6,013 conversion courses were put through. The total flying hours of the Air Movement Flight was 17,059 of which 8,570 were on UK internal flights and 8,489 on overseas flights. 883 Tons of freight was carried and 3,430 passengers transported without casualty. Total taxi hours amounted to 179,325 excluding Air Movements. The organisation recruited pilots who were considered to be unsuitable for reasons of age or fitness for either the Royal Air Force or the Fleet Air Arm (therefore humorously referred to as "Ancient and Tattered Airmen"), pilots from neutral countries and, notably, women pilots. A unique feature of the ATA is that physical handicaps were ignored if the pilot could do the job. Thus there were one-armed, one-legged, short-sighted and one-eyed pilots with the ATA. Representatives of 28 countries flew with the ATA. |
In late 1939, Commander Pauline Gower MBE was given the task of organising the women's section of the ATA. There were 166 women pilots (one in eight of the entire service) who volunteered from Britain, the Commonwealth (Canada, New Zealand and South Africa), United States, the Netherlands, Poland and one from Chile. Fifteen lost their lives in the air, including the British pioneer aviatrix Amy Johnson (Pictured right). One of many notable achievements of the women is that they earned the same pay as men in equal rank as the men flying with the organisation starting in 1943. This was the first time that the British Government gave its blessing to equal pay for equal work, within an organisation under its jurisdiction. |
 |
| Top of Page |
The ATS -
Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service
|
In 1938 the government decided to establish the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). This was the replacement of the WAAC (Women's Auxiliary Army Corps) which was disbanded after the First World War, in 1921. |
|
An advisory council was set up and included representatives of the Territorial Army, the Women's Transport Service and the Women's Legion. It was decided that the ATS should be attached to the Territorial Army and that the women would receive two-thirds of the soldiers' pay. The Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service was official launched on 9th September, 1938. The first women recruited worked as cooks, clerks and storekeepers. After the outbreak of the Second World War 300 members of the ATS were sent to France. On the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk in May 1940, ATS telephonists were some of the last people to leave the country. It was now decided to dramatically increase the size of the ATS. Women aged between 17 and 43 were allowed to join the service. However, WAAC veterans of the First World War were accepted up to the age of fifty. By September 1941 the ATS has 65,000 members. Their range of duties were also expanded and women now served as office, mess and telephone orderlies, drivers, postal workers and ammunition inspectors. On 18th December 1941, the National Service Act was passed by Parliament. This legislation called up unmarried women aged between twenty and thirty. Later this was extended to married women, although pregnant women and mothers with young children were exempt from this work. Women could choose to join one of the auxiliary services - Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS), the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) or the Women's Transport Service (FANY). Women in the ATS served as volunteers with the British Army until given full military status in July 1941. |
Women also joined the Women's Voluntary Service (WVS) to help in supplying a wide variety of emergency services at home. Another option was to become a member of the Women's Land Army and help on British farms. By 1943 around 90 per cent of single women and 80 per cent of married women were involved in war work. |
Provision was made for women to object to the National Service Act on moral grounds. Of the 6000 people to go on the conscientious objectors register, around 2000 were women. About 500 women were prosecuted for a range of offences, and more than 200 of them were imprisoned. Women were not allowed to fight in battle but as more and more men were called overseas to fight, their duties extended to include radar operators, military police, gun crews, and many other operational support tasks. By June, 1945, there were over 190,000 members of the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service. |
 |
About Us | Contact Us | Links | Credits |
