Two weeks ago I posted about this wooden crate from my parents' house that was full of World War II ephemera. The last blog post was about the ration tickets I found inside the box, and this week I've photographed the items related to civil defense. Both of my grandfathers, Donald Munroe Wilkinson ( 1895 - 1977) and Stanley Elmer Allen (1904 - 1982) were both too old to serve or be drafted into the military during World War II. However both volunteered in the civil defense.
Many civilians served in voluntary positions during the war for air raid drills and coastline drills. They also learned to fight fires, provide first aid, assist the coast guard, and also to lead recycling, rationing and Liberty bond drives. There were women's auxiliary units, too, for first aid, rolling bandages, and other projects. Even children played with games that taught them to identify aircraft and other civilian saboteur surveillance.
My paternal grandfather served as an air ward warden in Beverly, Massachusetts (a contiguous town). The air raid wardens would patrol their neighborhoods to make sure that homes were darkened with blackout curtains. Beverly is a coastal town, and blackouts were important along both coasts of the United States.
For the truly curious:
World War II ration tickets blog post:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/06/world-war-ii-ration-tickets-and-tokens.html
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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Did Your Ancestor Serve in the Civil Defense During World War II?", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 25, 2020, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/06/did-your-ancestor-serve-in-civil.html: accessed [access date]).
My Daddy was an air raid warden in Ohio. I posted at Ancestors in Aprons about the thrill I got when one time I was allowed to patrol with him.
ReplyDeleteHow exciting! What a great story! If anyone would like to read this story at "Ancestors in Aprons" the link is https://ancestorsinaprons.com/2016/11/my-life-memories-world-war-ii/
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