COMBINED E.P.S. TRIAL

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 250, 20 July 1942, Page 4

COMBINED E.P.S. TRIAL

Fire-Watchers To Take Part

Chiefly for the purpose of testing the movements of personnel in their own district and allied areas, with a viewpoint to determining their efficiency in the co-ordination of activities, a combined E.P.S. trial will be held, in the contiguous ' Wellington city districts, Nos. 3, 8 an’d 9, on Saturday afternoon next. The railway E.P.S. group, which has its own organization, will cooperate. For the first time in connexion with any E.P.S. trial in Wellington, firewatchers will be called on to play an important part. Full details of this will be announced by the Permanent City Fire-Watch Organizer, Mr. V. E. Hampson-Tindale, early this week. Experience with other trials has shown that lack of realism has been a serious drawback, and certain surprise features will be employed on this occasion.

The sounding of the sirens will coincide with the closing of the hotel bars for the two-hour Saturday afternoon break. Damage ‘’incidents" will be confined to the target areas, over which planes are expected to co-oper-ate, and will follow in natural sequence. The first raid will be purely an incendiary one, and this will be followed by an anti-personnel raid. An integral part in the general scheme will be played by the railways E.P.S. group. The bomb disposal squad will take part in the trial. Details of traffic restrictions and arrangements for pedestrians are to be announced later in the week. There have been some adjustments in the territorial area of No. 9 E.P.S. district, which is under the control of Mr. S. T. Barnett, Deputy Chief City Warden, as district warden. It has been extended to include Parliament Buildings and the Government Printing Office block, also all the territory along Waterloo Quay and Aotea Quay as far as the Kaiwarra. ramp. At the other cud of No. 9 area, the A.M.P. block is now included in this district, while the Bank of New Zealand block is incorporated in the No. 10 district. These changes have been made to facilitate control of the respective areas, and will 'be in operation for the trial on Saturday. E.P.S. personnel attached to the blocks involved in the adjustments will automatically transfer with the areas.

District wardens, block wardens, and their deputies are informed that the parade called for tonight in the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall has been replaced by a special film and talk at the De Luxe Theatre at noon today.