Introduction

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As war clouds gathered across Europe the Government began setting up a nationwide Air-Raid Precautions organisation. (The term "Civil Defence" gradually replaced "Air-Raid Precautions" as the war progressed, but the terms are almost synonymous and are here used interchangeably.) The actual responsibility was delegated to so-called "Scheme-Making Authorities" -generally Counties and County Boroughs- but Counties could further delegate most functions to the District level. Thus, in our area, the task of organising Air Raid Precautions fell to Blaydon Urban District Council. The one element which Counties could not delegate was the financial side and this was to lead to some petty squabbles; an inevitable consequence of giving power to accountants, as we are now finding in our National Health Service.

Air Raid Warden Appointment

Courtesy of Gateshead Council

A recruitment campaign was launched in a broadcast by the Prime Minister on January 23rd 1938 and this was followed by the distribution of a booklet, the "National Service Guide", to every household in the country. Apart from the fighting services and the merchant navy, this booklet listed the wide variety of options:- Police, Fire Services, Nursing Services, Women's Land Army, and heading the list were the A.R.P. Services -Wardens, First Aid Parties, Rescue and Demolition, Ambulance Service, First Aid Post Service, Report Centre duties and the Communications Service. The Rescue and Demolition Squads, First Aid Parties and Decontamination Services were thought to be unsuitable for women, but women were to be encouraged to join the Wardens, First Aid Post, Ambulance and Report Centre Services. Age limits were also imposed; the minimum for men in Rescue and Demolition, First Aid Parties and Decontamination was set at 25 years and at 30 years for Wardens, the Ambulance Service and the First Aid Post Service. Men between 25 and 30 could become Wardens if not required by the military. Men had to be over 45 years of age to work in the Report Centre and over 40 or under 18 in the Communication Services. These limits cannot have been enforced rigidly because one volunteer Warden, Joseph W. Porritt of 40 Margaret Terrace, Highfield, was 21 years of age when he enrolled on February 15th 1939. (Sadly, Mr Porritt died recently).

Blaydon Council had a rather poor reputation in establishment circles, probably because they thought rather more about people than they did about officialdom, but they did an excellent job during the war years, better in fact than many larger and more conformist authorities. A.R.P. Headquarters was set up at Hallgarth Hall, a disused residence in Winlaton, (now a public house) and the recruitment of volunteers begun. The first volunteer in the Council's area came forward on April 9th 1938; he was the Housing Manager, 48 year-old, Henry Braun, of Engels Street, Highfield, and the second, a week later, was Thomas Logan, aged 43 years, of Station Road, Rowlands Gill, who worked at Vickers-Armstrongs'. By the outbreak of war there were about 40 volunteer Air Raid Wardens in Rowlands Gill alone and about 20 in Highfield and Victoria Garesfield; in addition to these were the many who volunteered for the other A.R.P. services.

During 1938, as the situation in Europe worsened, more volunteers came forward and training was given for the many tasks which they might be called on to perform. Their first actual job came in the immediate aftermath of the Munich Crisis (after the Germans annexed the Sudetenland), when, for a few days at the end of September 1938, war seemed imminent. The job was the distribution of gas masks which in the Blaydon District had been assembled by Boy Scouts and then stored at Hallgarth Hall. Distribution began in Blaydon Ward on the evening of Thursday September 29th and the other wards were dealt with by the weekend. Loudspeaker vans toured the area telling people where to collect the masks; in Rowlands Gill the distribution was from a room above the Cooperative Store (now a gymnasium -the "Sub Two Fitness Centre"). In Whickham Urban District the distribution of gas masks began a day earlier than in Blaydon. Nationwide, some 35 million masks were issued to the public at that time but some local authorities held them back, some until as late as May 1939 when the Government insisted that they be issued immediately.

It should be emphasised that these masks were the "adult" version which came in three sizes and were suitable for persons aged over about 4½ years; no masks were then available for younger children. This situation was not remedied until just after the actual outbreak of war when Infant's Helmets, suitable for babies up to about 2 years, and Children's (or Mickey Mouse) Masks, for children aged 2 to 4½ years, were issued.

Once war was declared everyone was expected to carry their gas mask with them at all times, and the buff-coloured cardboard gas mask container (issued in the Blaydon area at the end of 1938) then became an essential appendage of every citizen. The more affluent, particularly the women, soon obtained more decorative containers. Of course many gas masks were lost or damaged and the authorities adopted a fixed scale of charges for the replacement of masks or their components. A complete replacement adult mask, for example, would cost 2s6d (13p), the facepiece 1s6d (8p) and the filter 1s0d (5p), while anyone unfortunate enough to lose an Infant's Helmet would have to find the sum of #1-5-0d (#1.25). Many people had their masks checked regularly by the Wardens and children's masks were occasionally tested by the Wardens in schools, generally by filling an air-raid shelter with C.A.P. Gas (a tear gas) and making the children walk through the shelter, a terrifying experience. An additional filter was added to the gas masks in May 1940, this was known as a "Contex Filter" and was to give protection against Arsine Gas. This additional filter was attached to the existing one with adhesive tape and had an unfortunate side-effect -the masks would no longer fit into some of the unofficial gas-mask containers.

The Regional organisation was also taking shape; offices had been opened in Newcastle by January 1938 but the actual regional structure was not finalised until April 1939. Northumberland, Durham and the North Riding of Yorkshire formed Region 1, the Northern Region, with headquarters at Watson House, Newcastle (on the corner of Pilgrim and New Bridge Streets). Rather perversely, the "North-East" or No 2 Region was immediately to the south of the Northern Region and had its headquarters in Leeds. This led to a degree of ambiguity in official reports - what area would the phrase "an attack on the North-East" refer to? Altogether there were twelve Civil Defence Regions in the Country.

Regional Commissioners were appointed to take charge of the Regions; their main function would be the sorting out of problems arising between the various Civil Defence services and between Districts within the Region, but in the event of an invasion leading to the collapse of the Government or to the breakdown of communications, they would assume absolute power. The man appointed as North Regional Commissioner was Sir Arthur Lambert, a former Sheriff and Lord Mayor of Newcastle whose business interests included the Townsend Galleries on Northumberland Street. Two Deputy Regional Commissioners were also appointed, they were Colonel C.J. Pickering and Mr J.J. (Jack) Lawson, M.P for Chester-le-Street (On March 15th 1958 Jack Lawson, then Lord Lawson of Beamish, opened the Sunday School at Strathmore Road Methodist Church). The Regional Commissioners Department, including the War Room in which officials coordinated emergency measures during air attack, was moved from Watson House to the Royal Grammar School in September 1941 (Sir Arthur Lambert was a Governor of the school and a former pupil), the school itself having been evacuated to Penrith. Finally, in June 1944, the Regional Offices moved to the Government Building on Broadway West, Gosforth. By coincidence the North Regional Commissioner bore the same surname as Cromwell's Major-General for the North District of 1655 (John Lambert), and the boundaries of Cromwell's districts bore similarities to those of the Civil Defence Regions.

The County A.R.P. organisations too were being brought to a state of readiness. Durham County A.R.P. Headquarters was established at 58 Hallgarth Street, Durham City and use was also made of St. Catherine's House at Allergate, a former home for "friendless" girls. The Chief Constable, Colonel Sir George Morley, was appointed County Controller; he was succeeded in 1942 by Mr John K. Hope, D.L., the County Clerk. The County A.R.P. Organiser and Chief Staff Officer to the County Controller was Colonel W.B. Greenwell, C.B.E., D.S.O., D.L., a Lanchester farmer. The County was divided into five Sub-Areas; Blaydon District came within No 2 Sub-Area which had its administrative offices at the Council Offices, Tantobie. The A.R.P. Sub-Organiser for No 2 Sub-Area was Mr J.J. Nicholson. The other Sub-Areas were based on Bishop Auckland, Durham, Easington and Chester-le-Street.

A.R.P. County Control was established in a basement under Durham Police Station. Officers in this room maintained contact with the Regional War Room and with each of the Districts in the County, normally through the five Sub-Controls in the Sub-Areas. The Sub-Control serving Blaydon District was in the Council Offices at Lanchester.

Each District appointed a District Controller, who was almost always the Clerk to the Council, in fact in Durham County only one Council made other arrangements; this was Seaham U.D.C. where the Surveyor became the Controller because their Clerk lived at Boldon and would have to pass through a target area (Sunderland) to reach Seaham. The Clerk to Blaydon U.D.C., and their District Controller, was Mr John Henry Mulcahy, a solicitor with the firm of Waugh, Moody and Mulcahy which still has offices in Blaydon and Newcastle.

Each District in the County, except Chester-le-Street Urban District, also set up a Report Centre. (Chester-le-Street Rural District Council dealt with the Urban District as well as their own area). All of the Report Centres, except that of Houghton U.D.C., were located at Council Offices; in Blaydon the large basement under the Council Offices on Shibdon Road was used. This, like other Report Centres, was divided into two parts, the Message Room and the Control Room, and it was reinforced with steel girders and protected from blast with sandbags. This basement still has a vestige of its wartime role; the remote-control equipment for the air-raid siren is located there.

Blaydon Report Centre had a few full-time staff who kept the Report Centre open 24 hours a day throughout the war, and during alerts this would be augmented by many additional personnel.

Forty women and girls, operating on a rota system, manned the telephones in the Message Room, which was under the care of Mrs Huntley until her death in 1942. In the Control Room, during alerts, there would normally be the Controller, the Medical Officer of Health, the Surveyor and the Plotting Officer as well as representatives from the police and fire service. Three copies of all incoming messages from the Wardens were made (using carbon paper) and these were handed in to the Control Room. One copy went to the Medical Officer of Health, one to the Surveyor and one to the Plotting Officer. The first two mobilised the various services required and the third used coloured flags on a large-scale wall map to show the locations of incidents and the whereabouts of all available A.R.P. resources. Reports of all incidents were also passed up the "reporting chain" to the Area Sub-Control at Lanchester and thence to County Control at Durham and the Regional War Room in Newcastle. Messages were also received from the many depots and squads indicating the number of personnel who had reported for duty. This information should have been received from every out-station 25 minutes and 55 minutes after an alert and on stand-down, and was passed on to the Control Room and also up the reporting chain to Lanchester -ideally at 30 minutes and 1 hour after an alert.

The Report Centre for Newcastle County Borough was at Jesmond Dene House on Jesmond Dene Road while Gateshead's was at the Fire Station on Swinburne Street, just behind the Town Hall. In those parts of Northumberland which were sparsely populated, Report Centres were established covering several local authority areas. Berwick Report Centre, at the Municipal Buildings, Wallace Green, covered both Berwick Borough and Norham and Islandshire Rural District; Alnwick Report Centre, at the U.D.C. Offices, Green Batt, covered Alnwick U.D., Alnwick R.D. and Amble U.D.; Morpeth Report Centre, at 36 Bridge Street, covered Morpeth Borough, Morpeth U.D. and Rothbury U.D.; while Hexham Report Centre, at Hexham House, covered Hexham U.D., Hexham R.D. and Haltwhistle R.D.

With Britain and Germany apparently on the brink of war, the British Parliament was recalled from its summer recess on August 24th 1939. One day later the Home Security War Room in the Home Office basement was fully manned and instructions went out to the Regional Commissioners to bring their headquarters into operation. Then, on Friday September 1st, as the blitzkreig against Poland began, priority telegrams went out to District Controllers, each bore the code word LOWIN; A.R.P. was now at war. (The use of priority telegrams or brief telephone calls giving a code word and perhaps a few qualifying words was a common method of instituting prearranged plans. This message told the District Controllers to implement the previously distributed "LOcal Authority War INstructions". A similar system -and the same code word- was in being until at least the 1970s. The 1969 "War Book" for Ryton Urban District is now deposited in the Local Studies Department of Gateshead Central Library).

Rowlands Gill's 60 part-time Wardens were immediately mobilized and the full-time paid air-raid wardens, already appointed, were activated. In our area there were only three full-timers on September 1st; they were John Joseph (Joe) Colledge aged 45 years of Low West Avenue, 41 year-old Ewart Gladstone Brown of Woodbine Cottage, Pipe Bridge and 39 year-old James Luke of William Morris Avenue, Highfield. Another three were appointed over the next few weeks - 51 year-old Thomas Waters of Engels Street, Highfield, John Foster, aged 39 years, of Oaklea, Station Road and 39 year-old John William Tindale of Sherburn Green (not the present Sherburn Green, of course, this was the name of some cottages near Sherburn Towers Farm). Two ladies, 50 year-old Ellen Chapman of Rothesay, Lockhaugh Road and 44 year-old Ellen Reed of 5a Burnopfield Road (opposite the present-day Vale of Derwent Club), were appointed in 1940 and 1941 respectively.

The structure of the Warden Service had already been established, five divisions A-E, were established in the Urban District; "A" Division covered Blaydon and Axwell Park, "B" Division contained Winlaton, Winlaton Mill and Barlow, "C" Division comprised Lockhaugh, Rowlands Gill, Highfield and Victoria Garesfield, "D" Division was the High Spen area and "E" Division consisted of Chopwell and Blackhall Mill. Within each Division Warden Posts were established in the populated parts, the number dependent on the population - "A" Division had 8, "B" Division 5, "C" Division 4, "D" Division 1 and "E" Division 3.

In "C" Division, after a short period using temporary accommodation such as a garage in Williamson's Builders Yard, the four purpose-built Warden Posts were established at Lockhaugh, Rowlands Gill, Highfield and Victoria Garesfield. Post C1 was on the left of the footpath from the Lockhaugh Road/Thornley Lane junction to Deneway (this had been a waggonway many years earlier), just behind the garden of Rothesay House. The building could still be seen until two new houses were built on the site in recent years. Post C2 was between numbers 10 and 11 Norman Road, where the foot of South Sherburn is now located. At that time it was simply a farm track leading to Smailes Farm; a five-bar gate led from Norman Road to the track and the Post was on the right of the track. Post C3 was behind Ward Avenue, Highfield, a children's playground now occupies the site. Post C4 was in the colliery yard of Victoria Garesfield Colliery; unfortunately the almost complete demolition and landscaping of that area make it virtually impossible to relate the location to any present-day landmarks. The Warden Post at High Spen was located in Cardiff Square, between the main road and the colliery, just below Howard Terrace.

The Warden Posts were all of similar design; about 12 feet (3.5 m) square with thick brick walls and a flat reinforced concrete roof. The outside door led into a passage and a door on the right of the passage opened into the main room. Post C2 off Norman Road was somewhat unusual in that it had a public warning siren on the roof and was therefore permanently manned by one of the full or part-time Wardens. Others would be manned perhaps during the day and during night-time alerts. At High Spen, where the public siren was controlled from the colliery engine-room, in the days when preliminary YELLOW air-raid alerts were issued, the engine man would telephone one of the wardens as soon as he received a YELLOW, often enabling the warden to open up the post before the siren sounded. The basic equipment in the posts was protective clothing, stirrup pumps, torches, whistles, hand rattles, bells, a first-aid box, a post log book and a telephone.

Some local authorities did not build any Warden Posts but instead utilized parts of existing buildings. In Gateshead Borough, for example, which had some 78 Warden Posts in 28 Groups, a wide variety of buildings were used such as police stations, church halls and vicarages, schools, pubs and clubs, shops, private houses and cafes, there was even a Warden Post in the police box on Whitehall Road. The post-war Civil Defence plans in the Blaydon U.D.C. area were on these lines too -in the 1960's the main Warden Post in our area was to be at Highfield School with others at High Spen Institute, Hookergate Grammar School, Strathmore Road Methodist Church and Victoria Garesfield Colliery Offices.

Head Wardens were also appointed to take charge of both the full and part-time wardens in particular areas. In charge of Rowlands Gill and Lockhaugh was 35 year-old Councillor Henry Swan, the son of an M.P. and at that time a teacher at Rowlands Gill School, but in 1948 he became the headmaster of Highfield Junior School, a post he held until 1967. Henry Braun, aged 48 years, the Council Housing Manager, was appointed Head Warden of Highfield and Victoria Garesfield while at High Spen and Chopwell the positions went to Mr John Lockey and headmaster, Mr A.V. Leckonby, respectively. In overall charge of the wardens in the District was the Chief Warden, Mr N.T.Barker.

It is difficult to list the various duties of the Air Raid Warden, they were so numerous. They were the jacks of all trades doing everything other than the specialist tasks undertaken by the other A.R.P. services, and they did those too when necessary. In many ways their job overlapped with that of the police, but was much more difficult as they did not have the powers of the police. Early in the war they were best remembered for helping to enforce the blackout and it is probably fair to say that, until the actual air raids started, they were almost universally unpopular. When the raids actually started the wardens' training bore fruit; they were the eyes and ears of the whole Civil Defence organisation. They patrolled the area each night and during raids and were often first on the scene of an incident. Their training enabled them to assess what resources were needed and pass an appropriate message to the Report Centre. Their local knowledge was invaluable if people were trapped in collapsed buildings; the wardens would have carefully made a note of who lived where, who was likely to be at work or on holiday, and even who was likely to be visiting whom -openly or otherwise. Although wardens were often called "Nosey Parkers", such intimate knowledge of the inhabitants saved many lives.

The Casualty Service was also well served with volunteers, at least 30 in the Rowlands Gill, Highfield and Victoria Garesfield areas alone. The facilities in Blaydon U.D.C. consisted of a First Aid Post at Blaydon Miners' Welfare Hall and First Aid Party Depots at Axwell Park Clinic, Winlaton Congregational Hall, Chopwell East School and Strathmore Road Welfare Hall, Rowlands Gill. First Aid Parties, consisting ideally of four first-aiders and a driver, were based at the Depots and dispatched to incidents to give first-aid on the spot to casualties. Most depots managed to muster two First Aid Parties, though not always complete, during air-raid alerts. If necessary the casualty could be sent by ambulance to the First Aid Post where nurses and doctors would be available. Throughout the war the Superintendent of the First Aid Post was Miss M.A. Todd and she was later awarded the M.B.E. for her outstanding work in this and many other voluntary jobs. The Superintendent of the Rowlands Gill First Aid Party Depot was Mr G.W. McNab of View Terrace, Victoria Garesfield, a 40 year-old Deputy Overman at the Colliery.

The number of First Aid Party Depots in a local authority area depended on the population and the vulnerability of the area to air attack. The latter was assessed on a scale A to D, most of Blaydon Urban District was classed as "C" risk, requiring roughly 1 First Aid Party per 4000 of the population, while Blaydon Town itself was a "B" risk area requiring 1 per 3000 people. Therefore the provision of eight Parties at the four Depots in Blaydon Urban District with its population of around 30,000, was well within the guidelines. The provision of First Aid Posts and other A.R.P. services was also dependent on the population and vulnerability of the local authority area, Gateshead, for example, had five fully equipped First Aid Posts -at Greensfield House on Askew Road, High Teams (now Bensham) Hospital, the Children's Hospital on Dryden Road, Wrekenton Miners' Institute and Carr Hill School on Carr Hill Road- and a "Reserve" Post at the Springfield Hotel on Durham Road.

Closely associated with the First Aiders was the Ambulance Service. Prior to the war there was no public ambulance service, but there were a number of ambulances within the Blaydon U.D.C. area. The "Winlaton and Blaydon Public Van Fund" maintained two ambulances which were based on Blaydon Bank and the splendidly named "High Spen, Victoria Garesfield, Rowlands Gill and District Nursing Association" had an ambulance based at Towneley Garage in Rowlands Gill -they would have needed a fair sized vehicle just to get the name on the side. These ambulances were financed by subscription and were available free to subscribers and on payment to everyone else. Blaydon Council itself had an ambulance based in the yard of the Council Offices and the colliery companies had ambulances which were available to their employees only. The Consett Iron Company had one ambulance based at Chopwell and Priestman Collieries had three at Chester South Moor, Ottovale and Norwood - all outside the U.D.C. area but on call to all of Priestman's collieries. The hospitals too often had their own ambulances and the only hospital in the Urban District, Normans Riding Isolation Hospital, was no exception.

These arrangements were clearly unsatisfactory for war-time and several cars were requisitioned and converted into makeshift ambulances. The main ambulance depot for the District was at Blaydon in Friars Garage, Garden Terrace. Rather inappropriately the building also housed the A.R.P. Mortuary. There were usually three or four fully manned ambulances available at this depot on every alert. Ambulances and/or "Casualty Cars" were also based at each of the First Aid Party Depots. At Rowlands Gill, however, there is no record of any ambulances or cars after January 1942 and by August 1942 only Chopwell First Aid Depot had such provision. The ambulance at Chopwell and, of course, those at Garden Terrace, Blaydon continued to operate throughout the war, and all of the First Aid Parties themselves continued to report for duty.

The war brought a revival of interest in First Aid and many classes were held, often taken by the same people who manned the Post or the Depots. Lessons in First Aid were even given to children in the schools. The result was that a large number of adults and children were able to assist casualties until the First Aid Parties arrived and many lives were saved. It is a great pity that First Aid is not taught in schools today - that really would be something useful for the National Curriculum.

The A.R.P. Rescue and Demolition Squad was mostly composed of building workers. As the name suggests they were responsible for rescuing people from collapsed buildings and for making the buildings safe either by shoring them up or by demolishing them. The service in Blaydon U.D.C. was based at Rowlands Gill in the yard of R.C. Williamson (Builders) Ltd. Two lorries packed with jacks, timber, ropes and other rescue gear were ready at all times, and during alerts members of the Squad reported to the yard to await any call. The Squad did excellent work after the raid of September 1st 1941 when they worked for hours to rescue a girl from the rubble of her home at 10 Delacour Road in Blaydon. Sadly the girl, 17 year old Emily Dodgson, died five days later in Whickham Cottage Hospital. It had been planned to have another Rescue and Demolition Squad based at Winlaton Mill but for some reason it does not seem to have been set up.

Attack by gas or, more correctly, chemical weapons, was thought to be a real danger to the British population -hence the issue of gas masks. Ironically the British came much closer to actually using such weapons than did the Germans, but it is certainly fortunate that we did not actually do so because, unknown to us, the German's had developed Nerve Agents, such as Sarin, against which we would have had little defence; any retaliation using these substances would have caused countless deaths. The perceived threats were the so-called "Irritant Gases" such as chlorine and phosgene, the "Blister Gases" such as Mustard Gas and Lewisite and the non-fatal but debilitating "Nose and Tear Gases" such as D.M., D.A., D.C., C.A.P., K.S.K. and B.B.C. (Bromo Benzyl Cyanide sometimes called Larmine). Some of these "gases" were actually liquids (or solids in the case of D.M., D.A., D.C. and C.A.P) and were persistent -once dispersed in the environment, they continued to pose a threat for some time, for a very long time in the case of Mustard Gas, a dark brown tar-like liquid.

The A.R.P. measures taken against this threat, apart from gas masks, were the Decontamination Squads and the Cleansing Stations. The Squads were transported on lorries and were equipped with protective clothing, respirators and large quantities of bleach powder. Any chemical contamination would have been covered by the bleach and then taken away to a suitable dump. The bleach would have reacted chemically with the "gas" and rapidly deactivated it. Blaydon U.D.C.'s Decontamination Squad was based at Hallgarth Hall, Winlaton. There were two Cleansing Stations in the Council's area, one for Civil Defence personnel and equipment at Hallgarth Hall and one for members of the public in a part of the First Aid Post set aside for the purpose.

The Communications Service was made up of Messenger Cyclists who were boys and girls aged 15-18 years (in fact they were almost exclusively Boy Scouts) and men aged over 40 who had their own cars. In Rowlands Gill the first batch of volunteers consisted of ten boys from the 1st Rowlands Gill Scouts and four men with cars. The Messengers were attached to Warden Posts, the Report Centre and to other A.R.P. facilities, as well as to Rest Centres, the Police and the Fire Service. Their function was mainly to act as a back-up to the telephone service which might well be out of action as a result of bomb damage, or to carry messages to or from incidents where no telephones were available; telephones were still somewhat rare (in 1946 there were still only 150 in the whole of the Rowlands Gill Exchange Area). Many of the Messengers did far more than carry messages, they assisted the service to which they were attached. Many Wardens, First Aiders and Ambulance Drivers greatly valued the assistance which these youngsters gave. Unlike most of the A.R.P. workers, almost all of the Messengers who served during the war are still alive and many still live in the area, but sadly one of the Rowlands Gill lads, John James Timmins of "Derwent Dene", Orchard Avenue, who volunteered as a Messenger when he was 16, was killed while serving as a Flight Engineer with the R.A.F. during 1943. A few Messengers based at the Report Centre were equipped with motor-cycles to enable messages to be sent over greater distances if necessary.

A number of buildings were designated as Rest Centres and Feeding Centres to be used temporarily by people made homeless by bombing or who were unable to cook meals because of bomb-damage. Those not already so equipped were fitted with blackout facilities and had splinter nets glued to the windows -these prevented glass splinters flying into the building if a bomb should land nearby. The Centres could be opened up at very short notice and were used extensively after raids; in the Blaydon District they proved of great value in the aftermath of the raids of September 1st 1941 and May 1st 1942. In the peculiar tradition of the time, a man was put in charge of most Centres despite the fact that most of the volunteer helpers were women; he was, however, allocated one or more female deputies. The helpers in these centres were largely drawn from the Women's Voluntary Service for Civil Defence, which also assisted in many other aspects of A.R.P. work -in some areas, because of the shortage of Wardens during the day, they even opened up Warden Posts during daytime alerts and reported incidents. The Centres in or near Rowlands Gill are listed below.

Local food shops were nominated to supply food to Feeding Centres at very short notice; Rowlands Gill Co-op and Laws Stores at Rowlands Gill were to supply the Lilley Institute, High Spen and Hookergate Co-op Stores were to supply the Centres situated in their own buildings, and T. Murray of Ramsey Street, High Spen also supplied Hookergate Co-op Hall as well as Highfield Welfare Hall and St Patrick's Church Hall. Rest & Feeding Centres featured in the post-war Civil Defence plans as indeed they still do. During the 1960's the premises so designated in our area were: Hookergate Grammar School (Rest & Feeding), St. Joseph's School (Rest), Rowlands Gill School (Rest) and High Spen Secondary Modern School (Rest).

Author's Collection

Durham Constabulary, like all police forces, anticipated that a large number of their regular members would be called up for military service and this at a time when they needed many more, not less, personnel. Clearly a large number of part-timers -Special Constables- would have to be recruited. This recruitment began early in 1937 but was much more selective than the other services; only physically fit men with clean records would even be considered. The first batch of recruits in the Blaydon District were sworn in on March 23rd 1937 and they began their extensive training. By the outbreak of war the numbers had risen considerably; there were about 33 in Rowlands Gill alone.

At that time every village had its own policeman, a system which worked extremely well -probably better than the present arrangements. In our area there were police constables at Rowlands Gill, Highfield and High Spen, each living in and responsible for their own villages. These constables worked under a Sergeant based at Chopwell Police Station which was on Hall Road opposite the Club, and ultimately under Felling Divisional Police Station. Each of the village constables was to look after the Specials within his own area and P.C. 667, William S. (Bill) Meehan who had been based at Rowlands Gill since 1936 took his responsibilities very seriously. Rowlands Gill's Special Constabulary did excellent work throughout the war; the crime rate was negligible during those years -imagine 34 policemen in Rowlands Gill.

P.C. Meehan lived at "Victoria", Station Road and his "office" was simply his kitchen. (His first home in the village was "Redworth" on Middleton Avenue -he and his wife named it after the village near Aycliffe where they did their courting). This was hardly suitable as a base for so many men, and the Reading Room in the Centre of the Aged Miners' Homes on Stirling Lane was used for this purpose; the locals rather unkindly dubbed it "the Gestapo". The village was divided into three sections -the Centre, Lockhaugh (including Lilley Drift) and the Villas (including Strathmore Road and "Whiskey Jacks")- and men were assigned to each. Once the war had actually started, regular patrols of the village were made every night, two men in each section patrolled for two hours and were then relieved by another pair. If an air-raid alert occurred, all available Specials reported immediately to their base or, more accurately, the Centre and Villas Sections reported to the "Gestapo" and the Lockhaugh Section reported to Hollinhill Farm - their unofficial base. Once they had been registered on duty they all followed prescribed routes around their Sections, reporting back to their base every fifteen to twenty minutes. On their regular patrols the Specials looked out for blackout infringements as well as criminal activity and during alerts they were mainly concerned with ensuring that people kept off the streets. If incidents actually occurred then they, like the Wardens, would ensure that it was promptly reported and they could also assist with rescue and first aid until the appropriate help arrived. Specials also guarded so-called "Vulnerable Points", installations vital to the national interest, but in view of recent terrorist activity, I will not elaborate on this.

The Police and the Specials moved onto a war footing on September 1st 1939 when the Chief Constables received priority telegrams bearing the codeword EMPOL. (The telegrams actually read "EMPOL. ALL POINTS". They instructed the Chief Constables to implement all parts of the document "Emergency Measures -POLice"). The issue of Helmets, whistles and service respirators (superior gas-masks) to the Specials began on September 11th 1939, but they were not all fully equipped until 1942. As well as the part-time Special Constables, a number of men, mostly retired policemen, were enrolled for full-time police work; these men were known as Police War Reserves. Four War Reserves served in Blaydon Urban District -all in Blaydon itself.

Prior to the war the provision of Fire Services was very poor in most areas outside large towns and cities. Newburn Urban District had a proper fire brigade as, of course, did Newcastle and Gateshead, but Blaydon Urban District never really had anything resembling a fire brigade. They did have a few employees who acted as firemen when required, and in Rowlands Gill itself the Council Roadman and a few L.N.E.R. employees were the nearest we ever came to a fire brigade. There was a small brick hut on the roadside between the railway bridge and the Auction Room (now Abel Building and Roofing Services Ltd) which contained a few lengths of hose, and if your house caught fire you could always try to put it out yourself, providing you could find the key to the hut and knew where the hydrants were located. The richer members of the community could call on the services of Gateshead Fire Brigade, who had an arrangement with Blaydon Council, but again there were complications; it was first necessary to find a councillor or a policeman above the rank of sergeant who was willing to verify that you could afford to pay for the Brigade's attendance.

The wartime provision for fighting fires was to be much more reliable. Recruitment for the Auxiliary Fire Service, as the new service was known, began in 1938 and the volunteers were required to undertake extensive training lasting some sixty hours. Blaydon volunteers were trained every weekend at Gateshead by the regulars of Gateshead Fire Brigade who were all officially policemen -the police ran Gateshead Fire Brigade. When war broke out many of these volunteers became full-time Auxiliary Firemen and others continued as part-timers who served at nights and weekends. The man in charge of Blaydon's Auxiliary Fire Service was Mr Marsh.

Fire Stations and Fire Posts were established in every District. Blaydon Urban District had Fire Stations at Blaydon Council Offices (in a garage at the rear) and at Hallgarth Farm (often called Wannop's Farm) next to the A.R.P. Headquarters at Winlaton, and Fire Posts in garages at Winlaton Mill, Fannybush Road at Chopwell (not far from Chopwell West School) and in the yard of R.C. Williamson (Builders) Ltd at Rowlands Gill. These were equipped with light trailer pumps towed by vans or lorries which contained their hose and ladders. They all came into use on September 1st 1939 but the Fire Post at Rowlands Gill must have proved unsatisfactory because it was closed on October 19th 1939 and transferred to the stables behind Hookergate Cooperative Store. There were up to four pumps available at both Blaydon and Winlaton, two each at Chopwell and Hookergate, and one at Winlaton Mill. On April 25th 1941 a Fire Post was again established at Rowlands Gill, this was in addition to the others and housed a single pump. This Post may have been in Williamson's yard but it has not been possible to verify this. Large Static Water Tanks were also set up in the more populous parts of the District to aid the firefighters, particularly if the water mains should be damaged. Two such tanks were set up at Winlaton and five in Blaydon, including a large circular tank in Wesley Square. For administrative purposes Blaydon's A.F.S. was designated as Brigade 1-3-12, i.e. Region 1 (the Northern Civil Defence Region), District 3 (Sunderland District, believe it or not!) and Local Authority No 12.

Although the Auxiliary Fire Service did excellent work in the Blaydon area and dealt very effectively with many "ordinary" fires as well as fires started by incendiary bombs, there were severe problems with the Auxiliary Fire Service in many areas. Perhaps part of the problem stemmed from friction between regular and auxiliary firemen. Whatever the cause of the trouble, the Government decided on a radical solution -they would combine all of the Country's fire-fighting resources in a National Fire Service with its own command structure and communications.

The Country's 1450 A.F.S. and regular brigades were grouped into 37 "Fire Force Areas" under a Fire Force Commander. In each Fire Force Area there would be a number of Divisions each of which would ideally have around 1000 men and 100 pumps; there were to be around 200 Divisions in the Country and the number of Divisions in each Fire Force Area would be dependent on the population and the risk. Two Fire Force Areas were established in the Northern Civil Defence Region, Area 1, with its headquarters at the Newcastle Fire Brigade H.Q. on Pilgrim Street (later moved to Gosforth), and Area 2 with its headquarters at Middlesborough Fire Brigade H.Q. on Park Road South. The Fire Force Commanders in charge of these areas were Mr H. Burrows and Mr W.H. Marden.

Blaydon Urban District was in "F" Division of the No. 1 Fire Force Area. This Division also covered Gateshead County Borough and Whickham and Stanley Urban Districts. The Division had its headquarters at "Glenbrooke", Chowdene Bank, Low Fell and came under the control of Divisional Officer Richardson. The main Divisional Control Room for "F" Division was at Gateshead's Swinburne Street Fire Station and there was a Secondary (or Standby) Control at "Endsleigh" on Saltwell Road, one of Gateshead's wartime Fire Stations. The other Divisions in the No. 1 Fire Force Area were "A" Division, covering Newcastle and Gosforth, with its headquarters at Shell House, Barras Bridge (now demolished, in the second block from Claremont Road); "C" Division with its headquarters at Cullercoats; "D" Division based at Westoe Village, South Shields; "E" Division at Sunderland; "G" Division based at "South View", Nevilles Cross; and "H" Division, covering a huge, largely rural, area which included Newburn and Consett Urban Districts, which had its headquarters at 6 South Park, Hexham. (There does not appear to have been a "B" Division!). No. 2 Fire Force Area had only four Divisions which were based at Middlesborough, Stockton, Darlington and Scarborough.

There were also many changes within the local authority areas, Blaydon Urban District was to have only two Fire Stations instead of six. They were at Blaydon in the Council Yard and at Chopwell in stables at the rear of the Chopwell Hotel, Derwent Street. Other areas had even more dramatic changes; Newcastle County Borough had its 75 Fire Stations and Posts reduced to only 15. The official hand-over of control to the National Fire Service was on July 1st 1941 but, until the new stations and new communications facilities were available, the N.F.S. continued to operate the existing arrangements. In Blaydon the actual change to two Fire Stations occurred between October 2nd and 12th 1941. In Newcastle the change was made on September 11th, before the new communications arrangements had been finalised -a point severely criticised by the Chief Constable in a letter to his Emergency Committee. In fact he did not like the new arrangements at all; he felt that the more dispersed arrangements of the "75 Point Plan" were far superior.

The changes in Gateshead, on the other hand, were negligible. An early list of A.F.S. Fire Stations shows that, in addition to the pre-war Fire Station on Swinburne Street, they had temporary stations at Abbots Road, Oakwellgate; the Old Police Station, Askew Road West; "Bloomfield", Durham Road; Sheriff Mount, Old Durham Road; King Street, Lobley Hill Road; "Endsleigh", Saltwell Road; South Dene Tower, Saltwell Road; and at Sheriff Hill (now Queen Elizabeth) Hospital. A list made after the National Fire Service takeover shows very few changes: instead of Sheriff Mount we had "Millway" and, instead of King Street, there was a new station in the Team Valley (a former Sports Pavilion on Kingsway). Only one station, the South Dene Tower Fire Station on Saltwell Road (actually in Saltwell Park), had disappeared from the list.

In the Blaydon District the communications facilities were soon established with message rooms for the two Fire Stations. At Blaydon this was established in a small white building on Larch Road just across the road from the Council Offices, and at Chopwell it was in the Mess adjoining the garage. Although the new arrangements worked quite well and certainly made it far easier to mobilise a large number of appliances to major fires without regard to local authority areas, there was certainly a feeling in local A.R.P. circles that, under the new arrangements, there was far less coordination and, indeed, far less cooperation between the Fire Service and the other A.R.P. services. Fortunately, in our area, the National Fire Service only had to deal with one major air raid, the raid of May 1st 1942, but they did attend many ordinary fires, and whatever the shortcomings of the National Fire Service it was infinitely better than the pre-war provision.

The National Fire Service vehicles were, of course, subject to lighting restrictions but they, like all A.R.P. vehicles, carried small identification lights consisting of a coloured filter over one of the side lights. For Fire Service vehicles the light was amber, Wardens and Police used blue, the First Aid parties used "cornflower blue", the Rescue and Demolition Squad used green and the Decontamination Squad used purple. Public Utility vehicles -electricity, gas, water and telephone- displayed the letter "E" on their side-lights.

The National Fire Service survived the war, but most of the wartime stations were closed when the war ended. None of Newcastle's wartime stations were retained and only one of Gateshead's, the Team Valley Station. In the Blaydon District, the Chopwell Fire Station, Station 3Y as it was designated during hostilities, continued in use for many years. In 1948 control of the fire services was handed over to local authorities with Durham County Fire Brigade taking over fire cover of the Blaydon District. Fires in our area were then usually dealt with by appliances based at Dunston Fire Station (on Dunston Road -one of Whickham U.D's wartime stations) or at Chopwell. The wartime pump and towing vehicle (A.T.V. -Auxiliary Towing Vehicle), painted red, were used at Chopwell until 1959 when the station was enlarged to take a standard Water Tender. Both these stations have since been replaced, Swalwell Fire Station, opened May 30th 1963, replaced Dunston, and in 1970 a new purpose-built station at Chopwell replaced the old wartime station. Since 1974 these two stations have been part of Tyne and Wear Metropolitan Fire Brigade. The Auxiliary Fire Service was revived after the war and survived until Harold Wilson's 1968 cuts. Their green appliances were a familiar sight alongside the red County machines.

Another important aspect of the fight against the menace of incendiary bombs was the early detection of fires. In many cases a fire detected early could be easily put out without the need to involve the possibly overstretched fire service. Many Wardens had organised street fire parties in their patrol areas to look out for and tackle incendiaries and other fires, and they encouraged people to keep ladders, buckets of water and, where available, stirrup pumps in readiness for immediate use. Then, in January 1941, the government introduced compulsory fire-watching for men, and everyone aged 16-60, except the Police and Home Guard, had to register for this duty. People already engaged in Civil Defence work did have to register but were usually granted exemption if they already did more than 48 hours work per month. Further measures were introduced in September 1941 but the law was not very satisfactory; there were so many exemptions that it was said that anyone except a congenital idiot could easily evade this duty, and in any case a congenital idiot was entitled to exemption. Men who did actually carry out this duty were only required to do 48 hours firewatching per month. Firewatchers were more correctly called "Fire Guards" and overseeing the service were a number of paid officers -a Chief Fire Guard Officer in charge of the District and Head Fire Guards looking after particular areas. In Blaydon these appointments were made in December 1941. In September 1942 women were also compulsorily enrolled as firewatchers, but many had volunteered before that date.

Fire Guards worked during the hours of darkness on a rota system, and at any one time a group, under an umpire, would be watching either a residential area, a single large business property or a group of smaller properties. Where a group of Fire Guards were watching several business premises, such as a block of shops, the umpire would usually have the keys to all of the buildings involved in a sealed envelope. With larger businesses the people involved in firewatching were often employees, and in the case of schools with pupils over 16, both the staff and the pupils could be involved. This was certainly the case at both Blaydon and Hookergate Grammar Schools -at the latter the fire watchers were based in the little flat used by the Domestic Science Department. Firewatching in schools and business premises ended on June 12th 1943 and after that date they were watched by Street Fire Guards.

The Council used Hallgarth Hall to train their Fire Guards and this was one of the causes of a dispute with the County A.R.P. authorities. In 1944 Durham wrote to the District Controller pointing out that Hallgarth Hall was financed by the County, whereas the Fire Guard was a District matter; Blaydon had no business using County property for Fire Guard purposes. They added that they had also heard that a military contingent passing through the area had been allowed to use a spare room at Hallgarth Hall as a guard room. Durham insisted that Blaydon should pay for both illicit uses of the premises. Mr Mulcahy replied that if Durham pressed the matter then he would also press for payment for the use of an office at the Council Offices by the District Controller and for the use of the Mortuary (a District charge) as an Ambulance Depot, neither of which had previously been charged to the County. As far as the presence of the military was concerned, Mr Mulcahy said that the presence of an armed guard, not to mention the tanks parked on adjacent land, had saved the County money -there had been no vandalism at all while they were there!

Courtesy of Gateshead Council

It has not really been possible in the available space to do justice to the work of the civilian services during the war. Some have not even been mentioned, like the Citizen's Advice Bureau at Mrs Dawson's House (10 The Grove -the top house opposite the Medical Centre) which was open from 6 to 7 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays, and the extensive training undertaken by all those involved has barely been touched upon. The public utility A.R.P. Departments, who did an amazing job restoring the essentials of life after air raid damage, have not been mentioned, nor have the large scale exercises involving A.R.P. personnel -the biggest was perhaps the "Percy Exercise" which involved Blaydon's Rescue and First Aid Services and was held from October 10th-15th 1941; there was another large exercise in Gateshead on August 17th 1941. But at least I hope that I have conveyed just a little of the huge effort that went into the A.R.P. Services and the great debt which we owe to all of those involved. The Regional Commissioner, Sir Arthur Lambert, expressed his gratitude to the civilian services in an open letter at Easter 1945 as did the King and Queen when they visited some of Durham County's A.R.P. centres on April 8th 1943.

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