AGAINST AIR RAIDS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 January 1939, Page 3

AGAINST AIR RAIDS

ELABORATE PRECAUTIONS I IN BRITAIN. WELL-PROTECTED FACTORY. What is probably the most comprehensive and carefully worked out system of air raid precautions in Great Britain is now in a forward state of preparation at Longbridge, the 100-acre factory of the Austin Motor Company, where 22,500 persons are at present employed. The Austin scheme aims not only to afford protection from enemy air raids for this huge number of workers, but also the co-ordination of an active fireand gas-fighting force for safeguarding the factory. The chief protection at Longbridge will be afforded by three main shel-j ters, one centrally situated, another behind the west works where Austin bodies are built, and a third adjacent to the new aero factory. The central shelter which is already complete except for a few minor items of equipment is a 150 yards underground tunnel, with walls of brick and roofed with reinforced concrete. It will accommodate 750 of the female staff, and certain key executives constituting the control of the fire and gas fighting force. CENTRAL CONTROL. A telephone exchange within this shelter will maintain contact with and control operations from the other shelters throughout the factory, and having its own motor generator, it will not de- . pend on any outside supply of electricity. Its entrances are heavily protected by 10,000 sandbags, and it provides safety against anything up to a 5001 b bomb.

The shelter behind the west works, now in a forward state of construction, is an even bigger undertaking, since it will accommodate more than 4000 persons, so that the entire female staff, as well as many male workers, are given protection., This shelter is being constructed of reinforced concrete on the floor of a disused sandpit, which will be filled in when the shelter is completed, to leave it 35 feet below ground. More than 30,000 cubic yards of soil excavated for extensions of the Londbridge sidings will be available for this purpose. This shelter will also be a centre for active workers, fire fighters, a decontamination squad, and a first-aid service. in addition to two further shelters, heavily protected against splinters, blast and gas, housing similar services. COVERED TRENCHES. The second line of defence at Longbridge will be in the nature of an extensive covered trench system, located on three sides of the factory, which will accomodate all the male workers, and to which, in case of emergency, the entire factory would be evacuated except for one man left in charge of the boiler house. In connection with the trench system a number of volunteer firstaid men and stretcher bearers are being enrolled from amongst the workers to bring casualties to any one of the three protected “hospitals” within the factory. Additional to all these precautions, two splinter-proof observation posts, heavily constructed and protected with sandbags, have been built on high ground on each side of the factory. From these posts observers will be able to witness any damage to the factory and by sights determine its location within the 100 acres of buildings. These observations will then be reported to the “bridge” in the central shelter from which the fire fighting and decontamination services will be directed if immediate action proves necessary.

Supplementary to these precautions coloured plans of the trenches and shelters allocated for each department or shop are being displayed throughout the factory, showing the routes of evacuation. Roadways and. bridges have been modified to suit, and in every shop a warning siren with a special note has been installed. Altogether, with these shelters, the covered trench system and the reinforcement with equipment and personnel! of its fire fighting service, the Austin Motor Company is spending £20,000 on air raid precautions.