Reporting on the Red An exploration of key aspects of Civil Defence in Norwich in the Second World War

Rees, Janice (2024) Reporting on the Red An exploration of key aspects of Civil Defence in Norwich in the Second World War. Masters thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

During the Second World War air bombing campaigns by conventional aircraft, V1 flying bombs and V2 rockets killed over 60,000 people in the United Kingdom. Active defence of a target such as anti–aircraft artillery and barrage balloons was provided by the military. Passive defence consisting of measures to warn and protect the public and deal with the consequences of attack was delivered and led by civilians. Initially referred to as Air Raid Precautions (ARP) they became known as Civil Defence (CD) later in the war.

Air bombing campaigns against Britain during the Second World War have been well documented. CD or ARP, though vital for the safety of the public, has received less attention. This thesis investigates passive CD arrangements in one provincial city, Norwich, tracing its development and assessing the effectiveness of some key services, prior to and over the course of the war, including performance in the heavier, Baedeker, raids of 1942. These services, not previously scrutinised in depth, are warning systems, command and control, shelters and rescue services and the thesis helps to address a gap in our knowledge of these vital safeguards.

Norwich made a slow start to the provision of CD but by the first Baedeker raid of April 1942 had built a CD system that was adequate for the scale of raids experienced up to that point albeit some elements were stronger than others. While generally CD services and individuals performed well in these raids, several shortcomings and some failures are evident, and the thesis provides a challenge to some of the statements made by CD officials which have become part of the received wisdom about these raids.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of History
Depositing User:	Kitty Laine
Date Deposited:	21 May 2025 09:57
Last Modified:	21 May 2025 09:57
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/99320
DOI:

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