Summary: A portrait of a 'typical' ARP wardens' post and of its predominantly volunteer staff.
Description: Although containing a documentary picture of the post's work (including an air raid, digging casualties out of a bombed house, etc) this aspect of the film is overshadowed by its presentation of ARP work (and of the 'Blitz' experience) as having a role in community development. This theme is established by introductions to the wardens in a pub-scene (they range from a bus conductor to a stockbroker) and continued in their conversation (saying how they now feel part of their neighbourhood, before they just lived in it) - also in various aspects of their work (eg stressing local importance of incidents that might appear trivial on the national scale). This leads in to the concluding statement that this spirit must not be lost after the war: "The qualities we've learned from comradeship and common sufferings are not going to be wasted after this war."
Production Details: Ministry of Home Security (Production sponsor)
Ministry of Information (Production sponsor)
Strand (Production company)
Bond, Ralph (Production individual)
Marlborough, Charles (Production individual)
Gordon, Michael (Production individual)
Tasto, Charles R (Production individual)
Alwyn, William (Production individual)
Bond, Ralph (Production individual)
Longden, John (Production cast)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: Air Raid Precautions (ARP) (regiment/service)
Keywords: destruction, British military - area: bomb (object name)
society, British - domestic (object name)
society, British - precautionary: Air Raid Precautions (object name)
Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W
Sound format: Sound
Soundtrack language: English
Title language: English
Subtitle language: None
Technical Details: Format: 16mm
Number of items/reels/tapes: 1
Running time: 10 mins
