IN CASE OR AIR RAIDS

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume LX, Issue 90, 14 November 1939, Page 5

IN CASE OR AIR RAIDS

-*^ — FORMS TO BE FILLED IN PROTEST AGAINST RED TAPE. (From The Guardian's London Correspondent) LONDON, October 7. Manufacturing: firms in areas which might suffer from air raids in Britain are receiving supplies of official forms to be filled in after premises have been bombed. Many are protesting at what they consider to be red tape. One manufacturer, commenting on the fact that such forms have to be filled in "before anything can be done about it," declared this week: "There is a limit to the amount of foolishness one can suffer gladly." The head of another firm said that he had been sent 10 of these forms by the relevant urban district council, but that, as his works employ only 120 people and covers less than half an acre, he returned all but two of the forms. "I consider," he adds, "that there will not be anybody left here after we have been bombed eight times, and it is no use wasting the other forms." The form is of the type in which "words not required should be deleted." A simple dotted line is provided for" date, time, name of firm, address. Then comes a line where words not required should be deleted:—i"Type of bomb—high' explosive, incendiary, persistent gas." The form returns again to the dotted-line method for "Spprox. ho. of casualties Approx. no. buried under wreckage " • The deletion method applies to the rest of the form:— "Fire—yes, no." "Water mains—intact, not available, static water on premises (yes, no). "Help required (strike out help not required)—first-aia party, res- , cue party (to release persons trapped), decontamination squad (to 1 deal with persistent gas), (demoli- ! tion party to pull down or prop up I dangerous structure).