AIR RAID EMERGENCIES

Evening Star, Issue 22974, 3 June 1938, Page 9

AIR RAID EMERGENCIES

BRITISH GOVERNMENT'S PLANS PROGRESS OF PREPARATIONS LESSONS LEARNED FROM CHINA AND SPAIN (British Official Wireless.) Press Association —By Telegraph—Copyright RUGBY, June 1. British experts are making a careful study of the lessons of the aerial bombing in the Far East and in Spain, and have been in touch with Spanish representatives with authoritative knowledge of the experience of Barcelona. This plan was revealed by the Home Secretary (Sir Samuel Hoare), when the House of Commons discussed air raid precautions this evening. Sir Samuel reported on the progress of the preparations.

The Homo Secretary discussed precautions against high explosive and incendiary bombs and gas, and he emphasised that the Government was not by any means neglecting the first of these. Surveys of the basement accommodation in several London boroughs and open spaces available for trenches and dugouts had yielded surprisingly encouraging results. The points mentioned were : That the open spaces in London would provide trench and dugout accommodation for about 1,500,000 persons. That an order for 275,000,000 sandbags had been given. That they had already 100 emergency fire brigade schemes. That material for emergency fire brigade work would be»completed by the end of the year. That apart from the 300,000 gas masks issued for training 100 local authorities had already received for storage sufficient masks for the civil populations in their areas.

That new Government buildings would in future be provided with additional protection against air attack. That plans for the safety of members of tbe Houses of Parliament were well advanced.

After reference to 1,500,000 persons outside the London County Council area, where 58 acres of open spaces could be used in an emergency, Sir Samuel said the Government had already accumulated 32,000,000 sandbags.

Referring to Parliament, Sir Samuel said that the rooms, corridors, and ground floor facing the terrace were considered the safest. Sandbagging would be used where necessary. Rescue, clearance, and decontamination parties would be raised from the parliamentary staff. Sir Samuel said that they were getting near halfway to the 1,000 Of'O volunteers for which he recently appealed. He announced the inauguration in a few days of a women’s or-ganisation—non-party, non-sectarian, and representative of all largo women’s societies—which would act in the closest harmony with local authorities and provide a clearing house for women volunteers. The new organisation would be under the direction of Lady Reading.

Finally, Sir Samuel spoke of the necessity of effective precautions to ensure the ■working of the Government machine in air raid emergencies. The House would not expect him to divulge details of the plans, but ho could say that they had advanced very far >n their arrangements to obtain an invulnerable headquarters.