This blog was written by a young student named Kaila Karino.
Who are these men wearing gas masks? And what are they doing?
While I was looking through the Ashington Collieries Magazine Vols. 14 and 15, I repeatedly came across articles from Ashington Coal Co. Limited with the subheading “A.R.P.” – the A.R.P stands for air raid precautions, an organisation that protects civilians from air raids when they occur.
It is apparent throughout the article how dedicated the men were to their jobs the articles stating that the men “Pledged themselves to turn out for the siren and buzzer for air raid warning” and that they would come out to protect whether they were at “work or at home”
In many of the articles there are pictures of the men in the A.R.P training relentlessly with stretchers on their backs and going in and out of shelters fully dressed with gasmasks on, truly illustrating their dedication to their work.
Another interesting article from the collection is one published in January 1940, which is a very detailed account on how the A.R.P. were to treat a casualty that had been gas contaminated.
The article outlines the positions of the nine men working at Ashington Colliery: one superintendent and clerk, one air lock attendant, two undressers, two washers, two first aid operators, and one dresser.
Here are a team of first aid servicemen from the A.R.P.
These magazines have been very interesting to look at, many of the other articles also reflect the lives that people lived throughout the war period, and if this post has interested you, you should definitely check out the Ashington collieries magazine articles and volumes as well.