The State of Air Raid Defence The Air Raid Defence
League's second Bulletin is an admirably lucid sketch of the general framework of civil defence as a whole, into which technical, social and economic problems fit. To achieve their object—which will be the dislocation of the life of the country—the enemy will resort either to mass-raiding, which high casualty rates would make brief, or to continuous raiding which could dislocate life over a wide area. We have three methods of defence— evacuation, shelter, and Air Raid Precautions. The estimate of the present situation given in the bulletin indicates that there is at any rate a measure of preparedness. We have the Anderson shelters ; basements have been strengthened ; public utilities' plant has been protected in some cases ; a billeting survey of the accommodation for 4,000,000 refugees has been carried out ; there are skeleton transport arrangements ; plans for hospitals ; and recruiting for A.R.P. has been considerably advanced. There still remain outstanding needs. These are decision and action on the question of deep shelters and of protection in streets and flats ; as well as for vital services and small factories. The Anderson shelters must also be erected and not merely acquired. We need to know where to accommodate the population from target areas and more active machinery for the control of industry, food storage and the development of West Coast ports is needed. "The present phase of the struggle is above all a phase of organisation and of clarifying ideas."
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