Fire Guard Orders
One of the factors which have made heavy air-raids on this country unprofitable to the enemy is the existence of a well- organised fire-watching system. Our recent comparative immunity is therefore no reason for relaxing any reasonable precautions. The new fire-guard orders which the Government have issued are designed to tighten up the organisation, and distribute the duties more equitably, and to relax them in certain cases where it is thought safe to do so. For women, under the new orders, the duties will tend to be less rather than more onerous, and it is very properly accepted that women- should not normally be called on until all men are doing their fair share. The age for exemption from compulsory enrolment for men has been raised from 6o to 63, and the orders are so devised as to make evasion by men of any age more difficult. The scheme aims at completeness in every vulnerable area with well-understood duties devolving on many small groups of persons, parties of whom on any given occasion under their leaders will be responsible for their various streets and blocks, the blocks being grouped in sectors each under its own captain. This postulates an effective scheme of training, not as yet formulated, though what even a well-organised service could do against raids on the R.A.F. scale is problematic.
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