LOCAL EMERGENCY SERVICES IN WW2

ARP, Ambulance & AFS Personnel and Equipment

Richard Beckett

These photos show some of the personnel who were available for use in war damage emergencies in Newhaven and the surrounding district during WW2.

The main units were:

(i) The LDV (Local Defence Volunteers) which later became the Home Guard - now immortalised in TV comedy history as Dad's Army

(ii) The AFS who were units of Fire Fighters auxiliary to the main Fire Service. (Auxiliary Fire Service, later National Fire Service)

(iii) The ARP (Air Raid Precautions) who were responsible for assessing damage, fire and rescue requirements at sites of enemy action.  They were also required to make buildings safe after bomb-damage, and were often local builders.  There was a sub-section of the ARP who drove Ambulances.  The WVS (Women's Voluntary Service) took care of people, with food and shelter, who had been displaced from their homes either by evacuation or enemy action.

All of these units were able to requisition civilian vehicles for adaptation to their own requirements as can be seen in the photographs.