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Air Raid Shelters
The British government decided to prepare for the German blitz by building hundreds of bomb shelters. These bomb shelters
would be in rows almost like streets of shelters.
Most of these shelters were made out of concrete and were only big enough
for a table and either two or four bunks. During the blitz these were used almost every night. People decided to live in the
shelters so that they would not have to continually move between their home and the shelters. Unfortunately, London did not
have enough of these shelters, so in the end hundreds of people ended up living in the London Tube stations.
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Gas Masks
London decided that the Germans would probably use toxic gases inside of the bombs that were used during the blitz. In
a preemptive dispersion, London sent out 50 million gas masks throughout the country. This led to panic, because the people
were not sure if toxic gases were going to be a constant problem within the city. Many of these gas masks were uncomfortable,
and babies and small children had to live within a gas suit, which let in a very small amount of oxygen, and proved to be
as dangerous as the actual toxic gas. Unfortunatley for the government the Germans never actually used gas in their bombs,
so the 50 million gas masks handed out were totally useless.
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Air Raid Wardens
The Air Raid Wardens were a group of people that the government set aside to help during the blitz. These Air Raid Wardens
had many duties that included helping the people during the biltz. The training for these positions were good, but when the
blitz came they proved to be a bit inadequate. Many of the jobs that the Wardens possesed were to help the people get to
safety in bomb shelters, and to direct people during the blackouts. The reason the Air Raid Wardens training was inadaquete
was because they were trained to help the public, but they didn't expect the number of people that needed help. The shelters
became overcrowded and the Wardens didn't know where to send the people, which in the end caused the tube stations to be so
crowded.
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