Outbreak of War
The outbreak of war was not unexpected and preparations were in place well before 3 September 1939. A series of telegrams from 24 August to 1 September 1939 to the Chief Constables of Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent set the local war plan (Local War Instructions) in motion.
LOWIN = Code name for Local War Instructions
EMPOL = Code name Chief Constable
MONEMPOL = Code name Home Office
This document is a log of all telegrams received, with the decoded instructions they contained. They include air raid precautions, blackout regulations, flying restriction and the summoning of senior officers to regional HQ.
© Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service
Once a telegram was received telephone messages were relayed to police stations across the County followed by written instructions. On 24 August all leave for police officers was cancelled and police stations had to ensure that they could answer the telephone within 10 seconds at all times. They were also instructed to purchase radios and listen to all news bulletins.
Staffordshire Record Office, C/PC/12/1/10/8
Forward to next document||
-
-
-
-