AIR-RAID PROTECTION

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 150, 22 December 1938, Page 9

AIR-RAID PROTECTION

BRITISH CIVILIANS

£20,000,000 SCHEME

STEEL SHELTERS

PROVISION BY GOVERNMENT

(British Official Wireless.) (Received December 22, 11.15 a.m.)' RUGBY, December 21. # Government plans for the provision of air-raid shelters for the civilian population were disclosed in the House of Commons by Sir John Anderson, Minister of Civil Defence, who revealed *that the' Government would undertake the responsibility for accumulating equipment at a cost of £20,000,000, mainly for providing steel shelters of a special type. At the outset of his statement Sir John Anderson remarked that the preparations against gas were more advanced than other aspects of air* raid precautions, and ahead of those of all other countries. If the risk of gas attack seemed less than it did, it might be due to the thoroughness of these preparations. Preparations against the incendiary bomb and the high-explosive bomb must now be brought to the same state of preparedness. In regard to the former, a plan had been worked out for augmenting the fire services in an emergency, and the recruitment and training of personnel and the provision of the equipment required were being pressed forward. PROTECTION AGAINST BOMBS. . A practical shelter policy offering protection against the danger of tha high explosive bomb must satisfy three conditions. Firstly, in areas vulnerable to attack protection must be given in or near the homes of residents or their placvs of employment. Secondly, shelters which were proof against direct hit were not practicable. Apart from the difficulties and ~ delays involved in any extensive scheme .for deep bomb-proof shelters, he did not think the public were prepared to adapt the whole of civilisation so as to compel a large proportion of the population to live and maintain j their productive capacity in a troglodyte existence underground. What they must provide was adequate protection against splinters and blast and the fall of debris. Thirdly, protection for everybody at the public expense could not.be provided. AH who could afford it would be expected to arrange their own protection, but the Government would see that all necessary advice and guidance were available. SAFEGUARDING EMPLOYEES. Legislation after the Christmas recess, he said, would impose certain obligations on trade and industry to protect employees while at work. For those overtaken by an air raid in the street communal shelters ■ would be available either in trenches or in other forms of shelter to be provided by local authorities. He instanced in this connection the strengthening of large basements in warehouses and offices and the provision of underground car parks. The main problem, however, was. the providing of protection for the ordinary citizen close to his own home. The type of protection must vary according to the type of building and the arrangements being made to produce standardised fittings for basements. Surveys would be conducted to see to which houses this method could be profitably applied. In blocks of flats the most satisfactory course would be to provide structural support either jn the basement-or on the ground floor of a building, and in those where an exceptionally large area could be strengthened in this way others besides residents would be accommodated. For houses without basements or with base-. ments which were not very solidly constructed a special type of steel shelter in sections which could easily be put together had been devised, to be placed outside the house close to the wall and sunk about two feet in the ground, the displaced earth being piled on top of the steel frame. CENTRAL PURCHASING PLAN. The provision of these shelters called for central purchasing,, and the Government proposed to take the responsibility for accumulating the necessary steel and equipment of these private shelters and bear the whole cost of material. The Government would proceed immediately to place orders for a very large quantity of steel equipment. The supply of special steel shelters sufficient to afford protection for 10,000,000 people would be arranged for the smallest type of house, and material for strengthening / private basements would be accumulated progressively as the survey advanced. The cost of providing all this material, to be borne entirely by the Exchequer, would be £20,000,000, and would lead immediately to increased employment iri a part of industry where there was at present considerable unemployment, and if, happily, it was not used for the purpose intended, all the steel left in the hands of the Government would have a residual value, while special shelters designed for the smaller type of house would have a considerable resale value.

The duty of providing public shelters for people caught in the streets and those who could not be sheltered in their homes remained with the local authorities, but the Exchequer contribution towards the cost of these public shelters would amount to several millions of pounds, and the whole programme would be designed to provide protection for nearly 20,000,000 people.