In the run up to World War Two British companies were quick to take advantage of the growing worry about air raids and produced a wide variety of goods that householders could buy to help protect themselves, their loved ones and their property in the event of bombing. This page from the Daily Mail in early 1939 shows some of the products advertised to the general public as being needed if the bombers came:
Many of these products would be of limited use when bombs finally came, but first aid kits were a sensible purchase and although advertised as for ‘ARP’ use, they were also functional for more general accidents round the home. One such first aid kit was the ‘First Aid outfit number 4, which came in a stout cardboard box:
A large label was pasted to the front with details of the boxes title, manufacturer etc.:
Inside was a variety of first aid supplies:
And the underside of the lid had some basic first aid instructions. These have been tailored slightly for ARP use by including advise on treating gas casualties:
I am unsure if all the contents of this box are original, or how complete it is, but I suspect it is at least representative of what the outfit originally contained. Amongst other items, the box contains cotton wool, crepe and triangular bandages, a box of Elastoplast brand adhesive plasters, pins, a tin of Vaseline, an eye bath and a thermometer:
There is also a small vial of insect repellent which I suspect is not original to the box, but is period so was probably added by the original purchaser.
A wide variety of first aid kits were sold to households in this period, at varying prices and with different contents. Some were far smaller than this set, with just a few bandages and slings, others were far more comprehensive and contained many more items. They were usually sold based on the size of household they were purportedly designed for, but often the retail price was a more pressing factor and a poor family with many children, if they could afford a first aid kit, would have purchased the cheaper sets regardless of the fact that they were marketed as being for a smaller number of people.
This dressing is wrapped in waxed brown paper, with a paper label wrapped around it. The front of this label clearly identifies which dressing this is:
The back of the dressing gives some instruction in its use:
Note the cloth tape at the top for opening the packaging easily with. At one end of the label is a stag trade mark:
With the manufacturer’s details on the opposite side:
Robinsons & Sons were founded in the 1830s and specialised in manufacturing both packaging and cotton based absorbent products such as ladies sanitary products and surgical dressings. A company who specialised in medical supplies would obviously be in large demand during wartime and it seems that Robinsons were given a number of very large contracts to produce dressings for the British Government for both civilian agencies such as the ARP and for the military.
These are made of heavy duty white cotton and are simple, loose fitting trousers. The waist and fly are secured with white plastic buttons:
And a metal slider is included for waist adjustment:
Simple slash pockets are included at each hip:
And a buttoned rear pocket is fitted to the seat of the trousers:
The label in the waistband of the trousers shows they are military issue as they have an NSN number and gives details of sizing:
The 22G code indicates they were issued to the RAF and they date from around 1979. They were manufactured by Remploy, a government owned factory that offered employment to disabled men and women and a firm that won many contracts from the military in the post-war period.
The lid of the box is marked ‘JJEFF’ and has a /|\ War Department ownership mark engraved on it:
The lid comes off to reveal the syringe itself, in this example the glass part is missing, presumably broken at some point in the object’s history:
The syringe and its accessories are mounted on a sprung steel tray that is a tight push fit into the outer box:
The syringe is made of stainless steel, with a large plunger running down the centre:
It is marked up as being a ‘Plimm Product’:
Also included is a small metal tube, but quite what this is for I don’t know:
The syringe and all the components unscrew for cleaning, it being much easier to sterilise in little parts than as a whole unit where elements might be hidden under other surfaces:
Sterilisation was not always followed strictly in a busy army setting, as recalled by Percy Bowpitt:
This example is covered in blue paper (sadly now rather damaged) and has instructions printed on the front for its use, along with a large /|\ mark indicating government ownership:
I have struggled to find out exactly why this type of dressing was called a ‘mine’ dressing. I suspect it was first developed to deal with accidents in coal mines, but I have found out nothing definite. In form though a mine dressing is much like a shell or first field dressing, consisting of a sterile absorbent pad attached to a bandage that allows it to be drawn tight against a wound. A tape is provided at the rear of the dressing to allow the paper packet to be ripped open in an emergency:
The following instructions come from a RAMC training pamphlet and are about changing dressings in a hospital- in the field things were seldom this clean and organised, but the general principles would remain the same:
These are incredibly simple trousers, made in a blue-grey shade of cotton. Dentists wear blue and dental hygienists green. There is a simple drawstring at the waist:
And a pair of elastic tucks in the side to help hold them up:
They have a single pocket on the seat:
As ever a label gives sizing and NSN numbers:
The stores catalogue indicates that these trousers are issued as part of a two piece set with the matching top (sadly I have not found this item yet):
The Army’s website gives more insight into what a dental assistant can expect from their career:
The similarities between this and the smaller tin are very apparent, both are made of metal, painted black and both have an embossed /|\ mark in the lid:
This box is considerably larger than the other example and was carried inside tanks and AFVs in a special stowage rack, here we see the diagram for the interior of a Churchill tank, the first aid box is indicated by the red box:
The first aid outfit is hinged along the long axis, opening up to give a large space for medical supplies:
A Canadian example of the First Aid Tin has the following contents list (apologies for the gaps in this list, but the image was very hard to read):
The tin has a small wire carrying handle on the side opposite the hinge, and simple wire securing locks, identical in design to those used on the smaller tin:
The following advice was issued in the manuals of the time for dealing with casualties in tanks and armoured fighting vehicles: