Ministry of Home Security
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The Ministry of Home Security was a British
The Ministry, run under the auspices of the Home Office, produced hundreds of leaflets that were delivered to the population and advised on how to deal with the impending air raids. It also managed propaganda poster campaigns, such as to encourage the carrying of gas masks and volunteers to join civil defence groups like the Fire Guards.
In October 1940, Sir John Anderson was replaced by Herbert Morrison in a reshuffle precipitated by Neville Chamberlain's resignation for ill health.
With the Allied victory in Europe, the Ministry was disbanded in May 1945.
Background
Surprisingly, little had been done to defend against attacks on the civilian population during the
Organisation
The ministry came into existence following the passing of an order within the Ministers of the Crown (Emergency Appointments) Act 1939. This order transferred to the Minister of Home Security the statutory powers of the Home Secretary, the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Lord Privy Seal.
The former
The ministry was responsible for two key wartime issues.
Firstly, the coordination of all the civil defence services provided by other departments.
Secondly, the overseeing of its own central and regional services and local authority civil defence services (including the approval of all ARP schemes, oversight of local authority civil defence services, arranging, building and delivering air raid shelters, sounding of air raid warnings (from 1943), the supply of ARP equipment, and the co-ordination and supervision of the civil defence regional organisation, which included the Civil Defence Rescue Service,
The ministry set up 12 civil defence regions, each with a regional commissioner that coordinated, from May 1940, all local authority services. A central Home Security War Room in London collated information from 12 regional war rooms concerning air raids, casualties and where necessary the movement of civil defence personnel between regions.
At its inception the ministry was organised in five divisions:
- Air Raid Precautions Department
- Fire and Police Services Division
- Regional Organisation Division and Home Security War Room
- Inspector General's Department
- Public Relations and Civil Defence Personnel Division
Ministry dissolved
With victory in Europe the ministry was dissolved in May 1945, with any residual departments and functions falling under the control of the Home Office.
Structure and responsibilities
Twelve commissioners, acting for the government, were appointed to manage twelve regions of the UK. Their responsibilities included providing air raid shelters and air raid wardens, gas identification officers, ambulances, and rescue operations. Millions of gas masks were distributed, and almost five million people were enrolled as fire watchers and firefighters. The Ministry also had the task of making preparations for the possibility of an invasion, including plans for the British national communications infrastructure being destroyed by enemy action.
From 1939, there were twelve regional War Rooms and a national War Room. From 1941, the Ministry's central war room was in the North Rotunda, Great Peter Street, London.
Ministers of Home Security
- 1939-1940: Right Hon. Sir John Anderson MP
- 1940-1945: Right Hon. Herbert Stanley Morrison MP
Notable personnel
- John Baker, Baron Baker - scientific adviser to the Ministry's Design and Development Section, 1939 to 1943
- Moses Blackman - scientific adviser, 1942 to 1945
- Peter Floud - principal of the London Regional Headquarters, 1939 to 1944
References
- The Second World War by Winston Churchill (six volumes, Cassell, 1948–1954)
- A.J.P. Taylor (Oxford University Press, 1965)