AIR RAID PRECAUTIONS

Evening Star, Issue 22988, 20 June 1938, Page 9

AIR RAID PRECAUTIONS

HOME OFFICE MEMORANDUM SYSTEM OF WARNING SIGNALS (British Official Wireless.) Press Association— By Telegraph—Copjrigh' RUGBY, June 18. The arrangements made for warnings in the event of air raids are detailed in an air raid precautions memorandum issued by the Home Office. Advice on the choice of public warning signals is contained in the book. For the purpose of the scheme the country is divided into more than 100 separate warning districts, and it is proposed that a warning message should be distributed to each of these districts as it became threatened in the progress of a raid. The messages would be distributed over the General Post Office telephone to individuals named in prearranged lists. When it appears possible that a certain district or districts may be raided, a “ preliminary caution ” message is to be sent to the principal officers of the local services and to those < responsible for blast furnaces in explosive factories and in other industries where fairly lengthy preparations must be made. The “ preliminary caution ” message would be entirely confidential in character in order to avoid _ unnecessary public alarm and dislocation of industrial activity if the raid should not materialise. If the threat of attack were removed, the “ preliminary caution ” message wouldl be washed out by a “ cancel caution ” message, and the public would know nothing about it. ~ If the movement of raiders supported the belief that a particular district or. districts would be attacked, an “ action warning ” message would be distributed to all on the warning list. This would include local Government offices, operators at the warning signals headquarters, divisional police stations, fire brigade headquarters; and certain, public utility and industrial undertakings. The delivery > of the “ action warning ” would be timed to give not less than five minutes’ notice of the raiders’ approach. After the raiders have left the district the “ action warning ” would be cancelled by a " raiders’ passed ” message. The four messages involved would be communicated on the telephone by a system of code colours.