As I indicate in my introduction the organisation of the ARP and the personnel undertaking duties as wardens, Fire Watchers, etc, are beyond the scope of this booklet. As a tribute to them, however, I am concluding with a Poem composed at the time by Mrs Emerson, a voluntary Nurse, whose husband Mr THR Emerson was senior warden of Swalecliffe.
I am grateful for permission to quote this poem as I feel it expresses so well the debt we owe to those folk who were among the first to volunteer and at least two of whom were killed by enemy action In the “Battle of Britain” – including my own local Warden who, while l slept, kept watch over Polo Way and The Leas, Chestfield.
When you‘ve drawn your blackout curtains
And you‘ve gathered round the fire
And you‘ve settled for the evening warm as toast
Hill you think for just a minute of the chaps who never tire
Of just waiting for the warning at the Post.
As you read your evening paper, or you drink your glass of beer
And enjoy the local gossip same as most
Do you know that some poor blighter in the warden’s room so drear
Is just listening for the warning at the Post.
With his rattle and his whistle and his tin hat and his mask
And his gum boots and his bell he’s nearly roast
But he’s all out for your safety, a pretty thankless task
And he’ll listen for the warning at the Post.
And if it comes at seven or at midnight or at ten
And it tells him there is danger near the coast
He becomes the man of action
And you’re proud to greet him then
As the chap that got the warning at the Post.
(Mrs T H R Emerson)
Action Stations 1940 – the defence of Whitstable
