Britain's darkest hours
A little light relief came Britain’s way 75 years ago as blackout restrictions started to lift. MARION McMULLEN looks at how we managed to see in the dark
DARKNESS descended across Britain two days before the start of the Second World War as widespread blackout regulations came into force. The rules were made clear in a public information leaflet that warned people that “No outside lights will be allowed and all street lighting will be put out”.
It was the start of five years of darkness aimed at making enemy bombing attacks more difficult.
The public information leaflet entitled Some Things You Should Know If War Comes was sent out to every household before the start of the Second World War and advised people to “Read this and keep it carefully. You may need it.”
The leaflet covered everything from air raids and gas masks to evacuations and fire precautions.
On the subject of the lighting restrictions and blackout, it said: “All windows, skylights, glazed doors or other openings which would show a light, will have to be screened in war time with dark blinds or blankets, or brown paper pasted on the glass, so that no light is visible from outside. You should obtain now any material you may need for this purpose.”
Street lamps across the UK were turned off and the headlights of cars and buses were also fitted with shields and slotted covers to dim their beams. The rear lights of cycles were also covered by the lighting ban and blinds were closed tightly shut on train windows.
One of the first consequences of the new restrictions was soaring crime and an immediate rise in traffic accidents involving pedestrians. There was also an increase in deaths by drowning as people fell off bridges or into ponds and canals.
A number of measures were brought in to try and combat the problems including the introduction of lighted walking sticks and white squares painted on kerbs, roads and lamp posts to make them easier for motorists and pedestrians to navigate.
The Men’s Wear Council suggested males should wear lighter clothing at night and men were also told to leave their shirt-tails hanging out so they could be more easily seen.
Some pedestrians wore white “armlets” which could be picked out in the dark.
The wearing of armlets and white belts arose from a new motoring regulation which also saw the edges of running boards and bumpers or wing tips on vehicles painted white.
One woman who tried the white arm-band experiment later told the Daily Mirror: “People stared at me
through the dark, so I knew at once that I could be seen and that the experiment was successful. When I crossed the road at pedestrian crossings oncoming cars pulled up at once.
“The night before, when I wasn’t wearing the bands, I had to jump out of the way every time I crossed the road.”
Hundreds of street gas lamps were stored in the London borough of Hornsey during the war and were maintained and overhauled by council workers in readiness for the total lifting of the blackout.
The restrictions led to some people becoming creative when it came to the blackouts, with one house in Brixton painting the boarded up windows and doors with flowers and plants and a fake lounge scene complete with birdcage.
Many shops also fitted a second entrance door so no light could escape into the street once it became dark.
Vigilant civilians ARP (Air Raid Precaution) Wardens also made sure everyone was kept in the dark by enforcing the blackout regulations and would walk the streets making sure no glimpse of light was visible.
The lights only began to be switched on across Britain again on September 17, 1944, when blackout regulations started lift. It meant lights on buses, trains and a railway stations were seen for the first time in five years.
Big Ben in London was lit up for VE night celebrations the following year and thousands flocked to Piccadilly Circus to see the first lights come on again in the capital. The famous statue of Eros was still boarded up, but it was seen as the start of life getting back to normal after the war.
All over the country the huge switch-on brought people out to see Britain illuminated for the first time since 1939. The south coast had been heavily blacked out during the war and there had been great demand for blackout materials in the Midlands.
Wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill told the nation on VE Day: “My dear friends, this is your hour. This is not a victory of a party or of any class. It’s a victory of the great British nation as a whole. We were the first, in this ancient island, to draw the sword against tyranny.”