THE BLACKOUT DEPENDS ON THE HOUSEHOLDER

New Zealand Listener, Volume 6, Issue 131, 26 December 1941, Page 12

THE BLACKOUT DEPENDS ON THE HOUSEHOLDER

Easy Ways to Make a Room Light-proof

A-few hours after the war reached America, the editor of " Picture Post," broadcasting as

John

Londoner

sent this message through the BBC. It means just as much to New Zealand.

take charge of Air Raid precautions have shown great wisdom and foresight in studying the problem beforehand and I know that they are giving you all the technical advice and information that you need. But it seems to me, John Londoner, that I might be able to tell you something about what we have learned for ourselves. authorities who will Civil defence against air raids depends on the full co-operation of everyone of us. Without that, the best efforts of the defence services organised for us may be wasted. The first defence against the air-raider from your point of view and mine as civilians is the blackout. If the raider can’t see what lies below he not only can’t be sure of hitting military objectives-he can’t be sure of hitting anything at all, except, maybe, a lot of dirt or water. He is not a perfect navigator, and he may miss the oS --

place he’s after altogether if it’s dark. And the blackout really does depend on the citizen. Everyone Must Help We found here that all the Air Raid Wardens and Police we could muster could not make sure of a complete blackout unless everyone helped. But if everyone just looks after his own house or apartment or office or store, complete blackout is possible. We found, too, that the best blackout arrangement is one that will last. A flimsy arrangement may be cheaper and easier to fix at first, but it won’t last, and it’s more trouble to look after night after night. On some light vents such as skylights you can fixe a permanent blackout with boards or stiff cardboard. For windows and doors which you want to de-blackout during the day, the best arrangements are two: you can have double curtains, or curtains lined with a completely epaque material, or you can have screens of wood or cardboard that you put up in the evening and take down in the morning. I think the screen is the better of the two. For one thing, it can’t shift aside like a curtain and let a chink of light through. Also it can be arranged with a covered slot for indirect ventilation. And, finally, it gives you

some protection against flying splinters of glass if a high-explosive bomb in the neighbourhood breaks your windows. For Fresh Air But if you use curtains it’s best to close the windows behind them while

you have the lights on. Then when you go to bed you can switch off the lights and open both curtains and windows to get your fresh air. But if you do this don’t forget not to switch on the lights if you wake in the night. At first we often used to show lights on winter mornings, forgetting that a winter morning is the same to a raider as the night. Have a flashlight alongside your bed and if you use it in the night don’t point it upwards or out of the window, but down towards the floor. One last hint. The only way to make really sure your blackout is O.K. is to put it up, switch the lights on, and then go outside at night to have a look at it. It may seem hard to believe, but one chink of light or even a match struck in the street can be seen for well over a mile.