Catalogue Number
NMLH.1993.1.8
Object Name
Booklet
Title
PERSONAL PROTECTION AGAINST GAS; FIRST AID AND NURSING...; HOME OFFICE THE PROTECTION OF YOUR HOME AGAINST AIR RAIDS; TRAINING OF FIRST AID PARTIES; War Emergency Information And Instructions; S.O.S. City of Bath War Weamons Week; After The Raid; What The Householder IOs Asked tTo Do
Place
Hornchurch & Bath; London & Essex & England & UK
Events
War & World War II; Air raids
Creator(s)
His Majesty's Stationery Office
Description
A gas-mask was given to virtually every person in Britain before the outbreak of war in September 1939. They were worn to protect against the inhalation of deadly gas. The government's Air Raid Precautions system required that people should attend sessions in local schools on how to fit gasmasks quickly in the event of an enemy attack. Local policemen showed young children in their classrooms. They were rather uncomfortable as they clasped the face very tightly. As it turned out though, the German air-force, the Luftwaffe, dropped no gas bombs. The use of gas in wartime was outlawed by the League of Nations, the forerunner to the United Nations; and is still illegal today. There were however practical limitations to its wide-scale effectiveness in war. These two government handbooks on protection against gas attack were issued by Hornchurch urban district council's Air Raid Precautions Department.
