Air Raid Precautions Black-out Glass Reinforcing Paper
This special glass reinforcing paper was designed to strengthen window panes and reduce the effects of flying glass. Being black, it also served as black-out, and probably helped to gas-proof any cracks in the glass.
Produced by 'Butterfly Brand' the paper was gummed on the reverse, so all that had to be done was to cut a piece to fit the window, dip it in a bucket of water and smooth it over the glass.
To prove its efficiency, I applied an offcut of this paper to a small piece of glass over ten years ago; it is still stuck fast!
A related product was Butterfly's 'Air Raid Precautions Sealing Tape', which was intended to be applied to any cracks in order to seal them up and prevent the ingress of gas - almost a forerunner of today's 'gaffa' tape.
The tin lid claims the following:
For sealing cracks and openings round windows and doors or in floors, walls and ceilings. Coated with special adhesive to adhere strongly to wood, paint, glass, tiles, linoleum and plaster.
This was important in the days where the gas-proof refuge room was the Government's intended first line of civilian protection against gas. The respirator only became the first line once production levels had reached satisfactory levels in 1939.
The tape was sold in tins in at least two lengths; seen here is a reel of 500 feet (150m) and 2 inches (5cm) wide.
Hurricane Lamp
Early experience of the black-out showed that motorists driving in the absence of street lighting with their headlights obscured were not surprisingly finding it difficult to avoid hitting obstacles in the streets. Black-out casualties soared and the restrictions on car lights were relaxed slightly, but traffic islands and roundabouts needed to be more clearly marked.
A.R.P. Department Circular No. 259/1939 of 30 September 1939 stated that:
[Island] Refuges should be indicated by placing at each end a lamp dimmed and screened in accordance with the following requirements:
- The lamp shall be covered with an opaque hood which prevents all escape of light in an upward direction.
- One or more apertures (as necessary) for the emmission of light shall be provided, each in the form of a right-angled cross having arms ½ inch wide and 4 inches long overall, arranged...with the arms at 45° to the horizontal.
- Diffusing material shall be provided behind the apertures so that the brightness of the cross is reasonable uniform and approximately equal to 0.5 candle per square foot.
- A hood having a length of two inches shall be provided immediately above each aperture.
- The light shall be white.
Where there are no illuminated "keep left" signs a sufficient number of carefully placed lamps, screened and masked in the same manner, shall also be placed on the circumference of "roundabouts". [1]
This specially-modified hurricane lamp was approved by the Ministry of Supply, the front of the lamp casing being embossed with
PROV PATENT 1420/41
The provisional patent number leads us to an improved hurricane lamp specification patented by Walter Batt in 1941-42. [2] Batt's patented design consisted of a square hurricane lamp (effectively as seen here) but with small square windows with sloping screens above them, as opposed to the cross apertures.
These lamps were 14cm square at the base and 26cm high; the paraffin reservoir containing enough fuel for many hours' illumination.
The apertures are covered with glass painted white, the colour specified. However, upon my lighting the lamp, the light turned out to glow orange, despite having the wick turned down low!
Although the crosses are visible for a short distance (becoming indistinct at about 15-20m), the amount of light given off is negligible. Standing above the lamp lit in pitch black, you can barely detect its glow, despite it being between your feet. This almost certainly saved the majority of Britain's traffic islands and roundabouts from an all-out attack from the Luftwaffe...
No.68 A.R.P. Lamp
This hooded torch (also known as 'Lamp, A.R.P. with Hood') was a standard bicyle lamp of the time modified for use in the black-out. A black-out hood prevents the light from shining upwards, yet the beam is still quite bright and covers a large area.
Powered by the standard twin-cell battery, the lamp is fitted with a belt-clip and a carrying handle. A spare bulb was held in a clip fastener under the battery compartment lid. The lamp was turned on and off simply by turning the switch on top.
References
- Home Office, Air Raid Precautions Department, Aids to the Movement of Traffic to be installed in Roads and Streets in the absence of street lighting (A.R.P. Department Circular No.259/1939) 30 September 1939 (HO 186/719)
- Patent Specification GB545641