• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

ConnDoc St291 THE AIR RAID WARDEN IN CONNECTICUT STATE ARMORY, HARTFORI.> REVISED TO JANUARY 20, 1942 AIR RAID WARNING SIGNALS Telephone: Yellow -Raiders sighted (about 12-20 minutes from point warned) Blue -Raiders definitely headed toward point warned (about 8-12 minutes away) Red -Raid imminent (about 4-5 minutes) White - All clear (Signals may not always be flashed in lhe order listed. Some situation•. because of the lmntinence ot attack, might require a blue, or even a red, •lgnal without the yellow having been used. Several red signals might be p;iven in succeasioo, due to the changing positions of attacking planes, without an All Clear signal between the red flashes.) Public Warning: Danger- The alarm signal will consist of a series of short blasts on a siren or whistle or, if given by bells, a constant ringing of those bells. All Clear- The "All Clear" signal will consist of a long, continuous blast or, if given by bells, a slow tolling of the bells. THE AIR RAID WARDEN IN CONNECTICUT CONNECTICUT STATE DEFENSE COUNCIL Governor Robert A. Hurley. Chairman Samuel H. Fisher, Administrator Sanford H. Wadhams, Secretary William M. Maltbie James J. Clerkin Reginald B. DeLacour John H. Goss Edward J. Hickey Samuel H. Graham Mrs. Chester Bowles James Lee Loomis Allerton F. Brooks Dr. George M. Smith Charles L. Campbell Albert W. Johnston Mrs. Ralph C. Lasbury, Jr. SERVICE PRESS , INC. HARTFORD, CONN . FOREWORD This pamphlet is published as a manual of reference and instruction for Connecticut air raid wardens. The ten chapters of the text were origi­ nally prepared as a series of articles for the Press on the duties of wardens. Requests for copies have been so numerous from prospective wardens who have found the information of special value that it was decided to reprint them in convenient pocket-size form. The pamphlet is not a \Varden's Handbook, but it should prove useful in supple­ menting official guides for wardens. STATE DEFENSE COUNCIL TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Air Raid \Varning Signal s ... Inside Front Cover 7 \\ hat Is An Air Raid \Varden? . 5 Why \Ve Need Air Raid Wardens. .. 8 What a Warden Must Know - His Equipment 11 The Air Raid Bomb ... ........... ... .. 15 The Incendiary Bomb . 18 The Warden and Protective ervices . 21 Organization for Air Raids. 23 The \Varden, the Community and the H ouse­ hold Unit. 27 The \Varden and Civilia n Morale . 29 "Just in Case". 32 District Warning Centers. 36 Connecticut Air Raid vVarden Organization. 40 THE AIR RAID WARDEN IN CONNECTICUT CnAPTER ONE WHAT IS AN AIR RAID WARDEN? The term is, of course, English. This is natural enough, for the whole business originated in England. Air raids over London brought to the whole world a new meaning to the term "Air Raid." Until then, we had looked upon it as just one of the uglier and more spectacular aspects of war, applied for the most part to battle fronts and their supporting reserves, occasionally to battleships, and once in a while to distant tribal villages of savages. Mussolini's war on Abyssinia presented about the first instance of a gratuitous air offensive upon peaceful domiciles. Japan hugely extended the practice in its systematic effort to decimate China. Germany and Italy combined, in Spain, to horrify the world with their wanton air raid upon Guernica. But not until London was raided by wave upon wave of air craft, dropping now time bombs, now high explosive bombs, and always incendiary bombs, did people come to a realization of what such an assault could mean to a modern center of civilization, a metropolis of homes, stores, hotels, banks, theaters, colleges, museums, and cathedrals. As we in America winced at the reported destruction of famous old landmarks of history, beauty, and culture, and shuddered at the pictures of a block of beehive tenements destroyed by a single "one-ton-er," the British rallied to meet the invading bombs at the very point of impact and to summon in defense all the equipment which centuries of civilization had built up to cope with disaster. Out of this effort, the air raid warden was born. s The Answer "Air raid" was the challenge. "Warden" was the answer. V..Tarden is the British word for watch­ man, sentinel, or guardian. As developed now in England, the warden is all of those, and more. He is a vital human contact point between the destruction of a fallen bomb on the one hand and the rest of the city on the other. He goes at once to the spot of disaster, he sizes up the extent of damage to property and danger to life, he reports this quickly, concisely, completely, to the central office, he takes charge of the local situation, he directs first aid to the injured, he starts the rescue of those who are trapped, he controls the moving away of the dazed people, he particularly accounts for the safety of the children and the disabled adults, and especially he looks for fires and at once puts in that first quick action which can so often be the "stitch in time that saves nine." Meanwhile, his report to the center has borne fruit. There arrive the services of the police, fire, ambulance, rescue, and demolition which take over and carry on the big job of "mopping up the mess," as the English describe it, with their traditional faculty for calm understatement. But the warden's job is not over. As the first and official observer, he is the center of information and reference. "There were twelve people in that house," pointing the rescue squad to a pile of ruins: or "there is a well in the back of that house," as the fire chief lays the hose. He turns to a wide­ eyed young woman just home from her job: "Your parents are all safe: they have gone with the others to the schoolhouse." To an agonized mother, "I saw them take out the baby, unhurt. You'll find her tomorrow." And when, hours later, perhaps, the work is over and the "services" have gone away, it is the warden still who makes the patrol of his area, looking for smouldering fires, finding possibly a suspicious pit in a garden - a time bomb, calling for immediate evacuation of the surrounding buildings and another quick 6 report to headquarters. Perhaps a bomb has dug up a street, torn gas pipes, or water or sewer, mangled electric cables, or shaken the corner foundation of a building. It is reported at once, and he puts a guard about the escaping gas and detours traffic from the street. Gilbert and Sullivan, in the Pirates of Penzance, say that "The policeman's lot is not a happy one." The warden's lot is so busy that he has no time to be either happy or unhappy. The air raid warden is a most valuable agent, not only in action but in precaution: that is, he is one of the most important links in civilian preparedness. But the significant point is that this preparedness is effected through an organiza­ tion of civilian vol un leers. Civilian Organi2:atian One could easily imagine an expansion of the Army sufficient to man our cities and towns with air raid wardens; with a military center, a G. II. Q. for Connecticut, and a commanding officer in each town, and so on, down to a sentry in each street. But, even with such a democratically formed Army as is made up from our own people, the idea of such military surveillance and control of our city life, our neighborhood life, and possibly our homes even, is abhorrent. Abhorrent alike to our traditions and to our individual feelings. The saving grace of the air raid warden organiza­ tion is its essentially civilian character, made up voluntarily from, by, and of our own neighbors and fellow-citizens. For, it is literally true that he is but one of us, serving the rest of us, doing our work, protecting not only our city, our com­ munity, our homes, but also our very families and our individual selves. And, no less, each resident of the warden's area is an unofficial member of his staff, charged under his instruction with duties we are to attend to, ready in time of need to take instant place at his side The warden is, therefore, a pretty responsible agent. He must be well chosen in point of character, personality and community standing. He must be trained. He must be informed. He must be alert, ever ready, indefatigable at times, in­ domitable always. To him, in time of air raid, look the people of his area. To him, also, look all Lhe established and official bodies of his city. For there are three great and essential values that he has to supply, in case a bomb lands within his area. First: he must supply an immediate, on-the-spot report of what has happened -where and with what effect. Second: he must supply an immediate, on-the-spot control of the situation­ instant attention to fires, quick administration of first aid, effective and complete evacuation of all people from the vicinity of danger. Third: he must furnish that interaction with the official services, as they arrive, which will enable them to do quickly and successfully the job they have come to do. To the police, he reports the situation as it has developed. To the fire department he gives the picture as he has found it to be by actual observa­ tion. And so on, for all the services as they arrive.

Load more

  48

Copy Link