Civil Defense and Chemical Warfare in Great Britain, 1915-1945 Jordan I

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Civil Defense and Chemical Warfare in Great Britain, 1915-1945 Jordan I Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 3-7-2018 Britain Can Take It: Civil Defense and Chemical Warfare in Great Britain, 1915-1945 Jordan I. Malfoy [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FIDC006585 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the European History Commons, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, Military History Commons, Political History Commons, and the Social History Commons Recommended Citation Malfoy, Jordan I., "Britain Can Take It: Civil Defense and Chemical Warfare in Great Britain, 1915-1945" (2018). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3639. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3639 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida BRITAIN CAN TAKE IT: CHEMICAL WARFARE AND THE ORIGINS OF CIVIL DEFENSE IN GREAT BRITAIN, 1915 - 1945 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in HISTORY by Jordan Malfoy 2018 To: Dean John F. Stack, Jr. choose the name of dean of your college/school Green School of International and Public Affairs choose the name of your college/school This disserta tion, writte n by Jordan Malfoy, and entitled Britain Can Take It: Chemical Warfare and the Ori gins of Civil D efense i n Great Britain, 1915-1945, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this dissertation and recommend that it be approved. _______________________________________ Jessica Adler _______________________________________ Terrence Peterson _______________________________________ Félix Martín _______________________________________ Gwyn Davies, Major Professor Date of Defense: March 7, 2018 The dissertation of Jordan Malfoy is approved. _______________________________________ choose the name of dean of your college/school Dean John F. Stack, Jr. choose the name of your college/school Green School of International and Public Affairs _______________________________________ Andrés G. Gil Vice President for Research and Economic Development and Dean of the University Graduate School Florida International University, 2018 ii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION BRITAIN CAN TAKE IT: CHEMICAL WARFARE AND THE ORIGIN OF CIVIL DEFENSE IN GREAT BRITAIN, 1915 - 1945 by Jordan Malfoy Florida International University, 2018 Miami, Florida Professor Gwyn Davies, Major Professor This dissertation argues that the origins of civil defense are to be found in pre- World War II Britain and that a driving force of this early civil defense scheme was fear of poison gas. Later iterations of civil defense, such as the Cold War system in America, built on already existing regimes that had proven their worth during WWII. This dissertation demonstrates not only that WWII civil defense served as a blueprint for later civil defense schemes, but also that poison gas anxiety served as a particular tool for the implementation and success of civil defense. The dissertation is organized thematically, exploring the role of civilians and volunteers in the civil defense scheme, as well as demonstrating the vital importance of physical manifestations of civil defense, such as gas masks and air raid shelters, in ensuring the success of the scheme. By the start of World War II, many civilians had already been training in civil defense procedures for several years, learning how to put out fires, recognize bombs, warn against gas, decontaminate buildings, rescue survivors, and perform first aid. The British government had come to the conclusion, long before the threat became realized, that the civilian population was a likely target for air attacks and that measures were iii required to protect them. World War I (WWI) saw the first aerial attacks targeted specifically at civilians, suggesting a future where such attacks would occur more frequently and deliberately. Poison gas, used in WWI, seemed a particularly horrifying threat that presented significant problems. Civil defense was born out of this need to protect the civil population from attack by bombs or poison gas. For the next five years of war civil defense worked to maintain British morale and to protect civilian lives. This was the first real scheme of civil defense, instituted by the British government specifically for the protection of its civilian population. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE Introduction 1 Chapter 2 - The Very Devil: World War I Chemical Warfare and its Legacy 28 Chapter 3 - An Unconquerable People: Air Raid Precautions for the British Civil Population, 1914-1945 62 Chapter 4 - The People’s Army: The Civil Defense Services in World War II 97 Chapter 5 - The gasmask is not a talisman: Protecting the Civil Population from Poison Gas, 1915-1945 161 Chapter 6 - The Modern Troglodyte: Sheltering Civilians from Air Raids 208 Chapter 7 - Anything but house-trained: Civil Defense and Issues of Class, Gender, and Childhood 260 Conclusion - Civil Defence is Common Sense 299 REFERENCES 318 VITA 332 v Introduction On September 3rd, 1939, just minutes after Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announced that Britain was now at war with Germany, the air raid sirens sounded for the first time. Many people immediately rushed to their shelters, convinced this was the beginning of the end.1 Some thought they were about to be attacked with poison gas.2 One young girl was bundled up in her coat and sent to shelter under the stairs.3 In Southall, people out on the streets, many just returning home from Sunday church services, began running. Air raid wardens shouted at people to get off the streets.4 One young woman rushed home to find her parents and siblings sitting inside with their gas masks on.5 Ultimately, this first sounding of the sirens turned out to be a false alarm and no bombs fell on Britain that day. The reaction of the population, however, showed not only a general anxiety over war, but demonstrated the significant government effort that had already been put into civil defense. People had reacted the way they were supposed to—anxious but with a purpose. The air raids did come eventually and with them a serious threat to civilian life. During World War II (WWII) millions of British civilians performed these same actions thousands of times, using their training in civil defense to protect themselves and their fellow citizens. By the start of the war, many civilians had already been training in civil 1 Imperial War Museum: 12/29/1, Raymond Fry, Wartime Schoolday in Surrey, 1. 2 S. Gaylor, “Wartime Memories,” BBC’s People’s War, accessed August 14, 2017, http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/30/a3545930.shtml. 3 IWM: 99/66/1, Heather Macdonald, Wartime Memories 1939-1945, 1. 4 Doris Anderson, “And So War Began…,” BBC’s People’s War, accessed August 14, 2017, http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/61/a3699561.shtml. 5 ibid. 1 defense procedures for several years, learning how to put out fires, recognize bombs, warn against gas, decontaminate buildings, rescue survivors, and perform first aid. The British government had come to the conclusion, long before the threat became realized, that the civilian population was a likely target for air attacks and that measures were required to protect them. Civil defense was born out of this need to protect the civil population from attack by bombs or poison gas. For the next five years of war civil defense worked to maintain British morale and to protect civilian lives. This dissertation argues that the origins of civil defense are to be found in pre-WWII Britain and that a driving force of this early civil defense scheme was fear of poison gas. Later iterations of civil defense, such as the Cold War system in America, built on already existing regimes that had proven their worth during WWII. Similarly, later schemes simply replaced poison gas as a tool for the implementation and success of civil defense with the nuclear threat as the source of fear. Civil defense at first glance might not seem to be a topic with great importance in the grander scheme of war or the history of the organization of the the home front. However, this dissertation will show that civil defense has far wider-reaching implications than might be immediately apparent. Civil defense is not merely a governmental policy or a component of national defense, but also touches on many different, important topics across society. As a scheme created and implemented by the government, civil defense can provide insights into various aspects of how the government perceives the homefront at a time of war and what it and its actors see as a vital part of the nation that must be protected. Similarly, as a scheme intended for civilians, civil defense touches on many thematic aspects of civilian life in a wartime 2 society. As a program that permeated most aspects of a wartime society, civil defense traverses topics such as war and policy, war and gender, war and technology, and war and health. Civil defense is particularly intimately connected to the topic of war and policy. In WWII Great Britain, civil defense showcases the government’s wartime policies and how civilians adapted to these policies. Civil defense was a governmental scheme directed specifically at civilians and thus a close look at civil defense practices and the policies that underpinned these, offers insight into the intersection between policy and civilian life. An exploration of civil defense schemes can show the government’s understanding of its own civilians, as well as civilians’ perception of their government. Such studies can answer questions as to civilians’ roles in government and society during wartime, the government’s plan for its civilians, and the overarching priorities of wartime policy.
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