Sheltering from the raids

Providing the British public with shelter from the suspected German air attacks was given in 1938 to the man in charge of air raid precautions. Sir John Anderson M.P. commissioned the design of the shelter that would be given his name. The Anderson shelter was a small cheap shelter made from six curved sheets of corrugated metal. It had two steel plates at each end and measured 6ft 6in by 4ft 6in (1.95m by 1.35m). The shelters were for use in people’s gardens, they were half buried and covered with earth over the top. They could accommodate six people and when the nighttime raids started people usually spent the night or until the all clear sleeping in them. By July 1939 over 9787 shelters had been issued to householders in Southampton. By the outbreak of war over 2 million families throughout the country, had been issued shelters. When the Luftwaffe changed from daylight to night bombing raids, the government expected people to sleep in their Anderson shelters. They were given to families with low incomes for free, but men earning over £5 a week (Over £250 now) could buy one for £7 (Over £350 today.)

The problem with the Anderson shelter was that it was for use in the garden. This excluded all those people living in built up areas who didn’t have a garden or want to stay in an overcrowded public shelter. In 1941 Morrison shelters began to be issued. These indoor shelters were made of heavy steel with wire sides and could also be used in non-raid time as a table. During raids one of the sides could be lifted and people crawled inside, two or three people could sleep in the shelter.

The public shelters in Southampton included some of the medieval vaults in the old town, these had once held wine and spices and they were adapted to protect people instead. Large businesses converted their basements and people became used to scrambling for cover when the sirens began to sound.

Gas masks – threat of gas attack

A poison gas attack was a very real threat during WW2. The experiences of the soldiers in the trenches during WW1 of this weapon made the government plan to protect every citizen against this type of attack. To do this a gas mask was issued to everyone living in Britain. By 1940 38 million masks had been handed out. The masks worked by the gas being soaked up by the charcoal that acted as a filter to breath through. (schoolnet)

As the war continued the public became complacent when the feared attacks failed to occur. The government threatened to punish those not found carrying their mask and it became part of an ARP warden’s job to carry out regular gas mask checks.

When Southampton went through a Blitz the people involved in civil defence protected and saved the lives of thousands of people.