Countdown to Armagadden.

Sandie Seward · Countdown to Armagadden.

'Wavering sound: go to ground. Steady blast: raiders past. If rattles you hear: gas you must fear. But if handbells you hear: then all is clear.'

'Some took precautions too far, such as the lady who overreacted to the first air-raid siren - an incident reported to The Topical Times.

'She had been informed that the best way to prevent gas poisoning was to fill your bath full of cold water, wrap yourself in a blanket, put on your gas mask and jump in.'
(This she had done when the air-raid siren went off after Chamberlain's broadcast on September 3 and she lay there in the water, waiting for the All Clear).

'It was the first cold bath I ever had, and it took a war to make me do it,' she told the reporter. '

'While the evacuees got used to their temporary lodgings in the countryside, back in the city, pet owners were taking drastic action. Such was the growing fear of the devastating air raids to come, there was a mass slaughter of domestic animals in the first few days of the war.

The RSPCA calculated that around 200,000 dogs were put down, and in the East End of London there was even a secret burial ground near excavations for a Tube extension.

For owners who decided to keep their pets and face the worst, the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals sold gas-proof kennels at £4 each and gas masks for dogs at £9.

Meanwhile, in Hyde Park, the Air Raid Precautions Animals Committee installed a large number of white posts, with leads and chains so that dog owners could tie up their pets before going down into the park's trench shelters.

Cats were at risk of being stolen for their pelts and rumours circulated that the carcasses were boiled down for margarine and pie filling. '

Three "snippets" from this intrigueing article. Follow the link to read it all.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/a...-mind-forget-hours-Mr-Hitler.html