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Islanders turned out in their thousands almost a century ago to watch officials and volunteers run through drills in the event of an air raid on Jersey...
Little did they know that just a couple of years later, this training would be put into practice with the start of the Occupation.
The Air Raid Precaution (ARP) Exercise took place on Thursday 20 October 1938 at West Park on Victoria Avenue, which was described by the organisers as the ‘theatre of war’. It was the first large-scale exercise of its kind in Jersey and a huge crowd turned out, keen to watch the action unfold.
Journalists from the Evening Post reported on the occasion and photographers were placed throughout the West Park area to capture the different aspects of the exercise. A report in the Evening Post said: “Spectators were everywhere – along the Lower Park many deep, along the top road, on the slopes of Westmount and the Pavilion terrace, and even in trees.”
Pictured: ARP Exercise (1938) from the JEP archive.
Among the crowd were the Lieutenant Governor, Major General Sir Horace Martelli, and the Bailiff, Alexander Coutanche, with their wives, who were greeted by the President of the Island Defence Committee, Major E P Le Masurier, together with many other States Members. The shelter in the Lower Park acted as the official grandstand from which the invited guests watched the action taking place.
Despite the excitement of the crowd, which numbered several thousand, the exercise did have a serious purpose; it was an opportunity to practice precautions to be taken in the event of a bombing raid on the Island. However, no-one could have known the events of the Second World War that followed and the newspaper report noted that many enjoyed the entertainment of the afternoon with lots of extremely humorous comments made, “especially those made in Jersey-French”.
Pictured: ARP Exercise (1938) from the JEP archive.
An advance advertisement in the newspaper said that at 15:30, the sirens would sound from Fort Regent for a period of two minutes at which point a succession of blasts would be heard from the area of the Harbour.
The newspaper reported that there were “realistic explosions and damage, such as the bursting of water, gas and electric mains, the interruption of the telephone service, the partial demolition of buildings, and the firing of a house”.
West Park Pavilion acted as ARP Central Control, although in the event of an actual incident it would have been Fort Regent that served this function.
ARP wardens were initially sent out to check for damage before sending back reports via motor cycle dispatch riders. Central Control then sent out repair and rescue squads to deal with casualties and to repair roads and essential services.
Pictured: ARP Exercise (1938) from the JEP archive.
A rescue squad working on a partly-demolished building discovered a casualty in the ruins and an ambulance was summoned to remove him. The newspaper said that the work here was done “with more speed than courtesy and the ‘casualty’ dumped rather unceremoniously on a stretcher with no regard at all to his injuries. Granted it was only a dummy, but the comments of some of the spectators were far from complimentary”.
The exercise ended with rattles sounding to signal a simulated gas attack and casualties among pedestrians. Wardens in gas masks and protective equipment were sent out to deal with the injuries on the assumption that both mustard and tear gas had been used. The newspaper said: “The casualty rescue work might have been performed quicker, as some casualties were left lying for some time.”
Pictured: ARP Exercise (1938) from the JEP archive.
After injuries were dealt with, decontamination squads were sent to deal with the affected areas, with zones marked off and treated with water and chloride of lime. Alarms were then set off to mark the ‘all clear’ and the end of an eventful afternoon.
The ARP officials declared themselves completely satisfied with the outcome of the exercise and hoped that it would prove useful in educating the public about what would happen in a real-life situation. They also hoped that it would encourage more people to come forward to volunteer for the service.
Pictured: Crowds at the ARP Exercise (1938) from the JEP archive.
The Evening Post paid tribute to the volunteers saying they had given up a great deal of their time for preliminary training, as well as their weekly half holiday to take part in the exercise. It noted that this was the first large-scale collective exercise in Jersey and that although at times it was rough around the edges, it was “wonderfully well done”.
A couple of years later, the Island would experience the horrifying realities of an air raid, which the ARP wardens were equipped to deal with thanks to preparations like these.
This story was told as part of a series in collaboration with Jersey Heritage.
To uncover more stories like this, visit Jersey Archive or search its online catalogue HERE.
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