Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 5 The Black Out, Air raid Precautions Danger From the Air
THE BLACK OUT
Complying with black out regulations was not easy. Lights in every kind of building were not be visible from outside; lights on vehicles and cycles were reduced in intensity and angled downwards, and street lights were turned off. Householders struggled to ensure that not a chink of light was showing, and movement of both pedestrians and vehicles in the streets was extremely hazardous.
Windows:
There was the inevitable run on blackout materials at drapers and ironmongers.
Public buildings with large windows had to review their opening hours. At Stibbington Church, for example, evening services were moved for a while to the Cross Keys Club Room, due to lighting restrictions.
Fears were great in the early months that an aerial bombardment could happen at any time. Any lights showing were quickly identified by ARP wardens patrolling the streets, or by the general public, who were keen to be safe. The Stamford Mercury reports one incident in Lincoln where shop lights had been left on, causing uproar in the streets as a booing crowd of up to 400 caused an ‘Ugly Scene’. The store manager was eventually alerted after a slide was shown in the cinema where he was watching a film!
A shortage of suitable blackout materials didn’t help. Another common issue arose from people entering a room, switching on the lights, and only then drawing the curtains. Wardens identified problems, and offered advice, but eventually prosecutions were brought. The Court Reports are littered with such cases, including
[1]
Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 5 The Black Out, Air raid Precautions Danger From the Air
• £5 fine to Headmaster of Stamford School (curtains had a two inch gap in the centre and one inch down the sides). • Lady Winfrey, at Castor House, fined £3 for leaving a light on in the attic.
As the risk seemed to ease, but the watchfulness of wardens didn’t, some tension arose. The lively account of the court appearance of Clara Close, from Stibbington, Illustrates this:
[PA 5/1/40]
The warden, police and court time taken up by some of these cases was indicative of just how important maintaining the black out was seen to be. The prosecution of a Waternewton man shows this:
[2]
Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 5 The Black Out, Air raid Precautions Danger From the Air
[PA 6/12/40]
It is no surprise then, that ARP wardens were not everyone’s favourite people. There are reports of them being abused, and letters to the press urged authorities not to ‘torment’ householders and not to treat them like criminals for showing a dim light
[3]
Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 5 The Black Out, Air raid Precautions Danger From the Air
Vehicles and cyclists:
Conditions in the darkened streets must have been difficult. The following comments are from a report on a City wide black out exercise in July 1939
‘Illuminated traffic signs were effectively screened by a covering of sacking, although still allowing enough light to filter through to render them dimly visible. In addition, screened red lamps cast a dim light at road obstructions, and the traffic signals, although working, were nearly dimmed.
In fact, so dark were the streets, apart from the main roads, that it was impossible to recognise anyone that one met.
The district was well patrolled by wardens. Several times we drove for a while with our headlamps on in order to test the watchfulness of the wardens. Not once were we able to drive more than a hundred yards before there was a signal from some warden to put them out.’
Again, a great deal of local court time was taken with prosecutions of vehicle light infringements, including young William Sumpter from Wansford who was fined £1 as his cycle lamp was too bright. His plea that he’d already cycled through several other villages without being challenged did not wash!
Pedestrians:
Pedestrians were strongly advised to walk on the right hand pavement at night and reminded that hand torches had to be covered with 2 layers of tissue paper, shone downwards only, and not shone in the eyes of oncoming motorists. Councils were asked to keep hedgerows cut back so pedestrians did not scratch themselves or tear clothing in black out conditions. However, whatever precautions were taken, these were dangerous times.
The Pedestrian Society wrote to local newspapers highlighting the irony of the statistics: it had been estimated that in the first week of Black Out regulations, in the country as a whole, 400 people had been killed and 3,000 injured, compared with 1,316 killed and 3, 000 injured in the entire four and a half years of air raids in WWI. A later report stated that nearly 1,200 people were killed in December 1939 alone.
Most weeks the newspapers carry accounts of such tragedies locally. Just a few examples:
• A Bainton man, run down by a lorry whilst walking to Stamford • Details from the inquest of a Xaverian Brother killed in Deeping with a full account of difficulty of driving in blackout conditions • The lorry which collided with four Irishmen at Ramsey St Mary opposite The White Lion ‘beerhouse’, with one killed and three injured • Thomas Henry Lee (74) of Wansford killed by a London Brick lorry at Wansford cross roads in the darkness
There were attempts to improve the situation. In the City, more streets were provided with central white dotted lines. In darkly shaded places trees and lamp posts were painted with broad white
[4]
Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 5 The Black Out, Air raid Precautions Danger From the Air
bands. In February 1940 it was reported that 291 special street lamps with sufficient light for pedestrians and an improvement for motorists were being installed in Peterborough
Some were able to gain advantage from the darkness, although the Whittlesey man might have regretted trying to do so when he was caught and charged ’with 13 cases of larceny from unattended motor cars as well as a bag from a cycle containing a pork pie, mutton chops and cakes’.
Other cases before Court included a farmer fined for breach of regulations in lighting a bonfire which could be seen a mile away, and several others were charged for the ‘dangerous practice’ of attempting to move farm animals without showing some form of light!
AIR RAID PRECAUTIONS
The local papers were full of detailed accounts of activity and advice, along with appeals for more volunteers to come forward – for training as wardens, nurses and drivers; blood donors; and so on. The message was clear – please do not leave it to someone else.
The Duchess of Gloucester made regular high profile visits to ARP depots, First Aid posts and to Women’s Voluntary workers groups, reportedly delighted with all that she saw. These included the Elton First Aid and Gas Contamination Post, ‘one of the finest in the country’, and the Yarwell cottage, renovated for First Aid work, where ‘she admired, particularly, the surgical cabinet’.
A number of ARP exercises were carried out, at local level, City-wide and regional. In one mock air raid in May 1940, an estimated 70,000 personnel took part across the whole East Midlands region, including 1,000 people from Peterborough, Bourne and Stamford. These events, many in darkness and late at night, attracted crowds of curious onlookers and the reporters gave detailed eyewitness accounts. Marks and Spencer’s had a trial evacuation, to test the store’s preparedness.
[5]
Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 5 The Black Out, Air raid Precautions Danger From the Air
In Stibbington, Mr T A Stafford, in his role (one of many!) as Superintendent of Wansford and District Ambulance Brigade, gave a series of lectures on first aid in the school room. Mr Stafford was also in charge of the rota for the Fire Guard Squad for Stibbington and Sibson.
Emergency feeding and rest centres were established including Castor/Ailsworth Memorial Hall and Thornhaugh Council School.
Farmers were required to plough up or lay obstructions in fields capable of being a landing site; ‘souvenir hunters’ were discouraged from scouring the countryside following air raids (declared as causing as much damage as the enemy action itself); there were concerns that using church towers as lookout posts or church bells for signalling made churches legitimate targets; lofts not used as living spaces were to be cleared, to minimise fire risk. Instructions were issued on how to deal with animals injured or killed in air raids. Mr B Bradshaw became Stibbington’s rep for animal welfare.
Peterborough Cathedral published its procedures for when an air raid siren went off during a service: the service would pause, the organist would play a hymn whilst those who needed to leave to attend to their duties could do so, then after a few minutes, the service would resume.
In schools, there were debates about delaying the start of school on days following air raids or whether children arriving late should be punished; the authorities gave instructions to heads to enforce the carrying of gas masks: ‘what’s the point of providing air raid shelters if children have to go home to get their masks?’; the provision of barley sugar was sanctioned in some Lincolnshire schools, ‘for medicinal use only, to counter the effects of shock.’
All the local papers published identification charts of German planes:
The closest most Wansford villagers ever got to a German aircraft was in October 1940, when they had the chance to inspect a Messerschmitt 110, mounted on a lorry, parked for a while in the Haycock car park, guarded by the local Home Guard.
[6]
Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 5 The Black Out, Air raid Precautions Danger From the Air
In May 1941 came a daytime tear gas exercise, designed to catch out those who had become complacent about carrying their gas masks at all times. On this occasion, due to all the prior publicity, Peterborough was found to be prepared!
Managing the vast army of volunteer wardens was no easy task. The amount of red tape was criticised, wardens became unpopular, especially when rumours were voiced about ‘Head Wardens and Controllers being well paid and making a good thing out of it’. These were categorically denied.
‘“Not one penny is being paid to these gentlemen. The only pay is to those working 8 hour shifts and then they are not allowed any other employment. The same goes for the WVS – Mrs Mellows receives nothing”’.
But rumours stick and can damage morale. Demands for names and expenses paid to be published were rejected, which caused suspicion. There were indignant letters in defence of volunteers’ time and commitment, for no money,
‘These are volunteer roles, and many who worked 6-10pm shifts have often already done a day’s work. Those who are paid have given much free time for training’
but other correspondents commented on
‘waning of enthusiasm – wardens have lost “briskness in their step, keenness in their eye and a firmness of purpose’.
There were certainly issues relating to people not attending training, medical examinations, etc – ‘may turn out in an emergency, but won’t know what to do!’. There are frequent reports of men being formally warned or fined for non-attendance.
Sometimes the wardens’ over zealousness was not welcome – as seen in the black out disputes above - and in the case of one elderly couple who were awoken to be told that an incendiary had hit their cottage.
‘” We’d already dealt with it and gone back to sleep. He thought we couldn’t cope!”’
[7]
Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 5 The Black Out, Air raid Precautions Danger From the Air
DANGER FROM THE AIR
[8]
Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 5 The Black Out, Air raid Precautions Danger From the Air
Air raids, when they occurred, were reported, but only in vague terms: “on an unnamed East Midlands village”, for example, presumably to prevent any spies scouring the Stamford Mercury or Peterborough Advertiser for details of the success or otherwise of German raids. It is difficult to identify from such reports how badly the area local to Peterborough was affected. ‘Wings Over Rutland’ by John Rennison gives an account of some of the major events which occurred in the locality of Rutland’s airfields including detailed eyewitness account of the “Stamford Bomb” 31/10/40, and the bomb which fell on Easton-on-the-Hill in February 1941
There seemed to be little to fear in the countryside, and people were not downhearted. One report in August 1940 gives details of the passengers of a bus enjoying community singing as it ran, with no internal lights, through one raid; another describes a series of vivid flashes as bombs rained on a village, with a hole in the footbridge the only damage; in one unnamed East Midlands village, fire bombs burned out a barn but the church escaped destruction; and under the headline
Bombardment That Failed - Only £20 damage on Farm there is a full account of bomb dropped on an unnamed East of England farm.
‘Pig huts were undamaged though they can normally be pushed over by hand! People roundabout are feeling much ‘chirpier’ now they really know a bark can be worse than a bite’
Reports of damage caused by British or American aircraft is specific and detailed:
• From October 1942 comes this account of the crash of a British plane on cottages in Somersham in which ten people were killed (an eleventh victim died later).
[PA 9/10/42]
• In March 1943, a bomber crashed on a house at Coates killing the four occupants and with loss of all but one RAF crew.
[9]
Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 5 The Black Out, Air raid Precautions Danger From the Air
• The following extract from December 1943 recounts how a USAF flying fortress crashed on the edge of Deensthorpe, near Oundle.
[PA 10/12/43]
• Bizarrely, in March 1944, there was a report of an investigation into an incident at Deeping St Nicholas, in which a Mrs Billings, working in a pea field, had her ‘head cut off’ by an RAF plane flying at less than 6 feet. Her husband was awarded £450 compensation – no details of any action taken against the pilot were made public.
• One further casualty was 17 year old George Butters who was killed by a discarded missile used in a Home Guard exercise on Helpston Heath. George had gone to the heath with some mates on a day off from work, found the missile and had been throwing it about before apparently removing a pin from it!! Warnings about the dangers of playing with strange objects followed.
[10]