The Archaeology of Air Raid Shelters Alice Gorman

The Archaeology of Air Raid Shelters

• Alice Gorman

• Department of Archaeology

• Flinders University

Why archaeology?

• Not just pyramids and pots

• Material culture tells different stories to historical documents

• Growing interest in the recent past

The Brisbane Line

• First raised in 1908 by Lord Kitchener

• 1938: population of Australia at 7 million

• Fear of Japanese invasion

• Adelaide is a target

South Australian Defence Society

• Founded by Natalia Davies in 1933

• Raise awareness and teach ARP

• Membership mostly women

• Gender roles on the home front

Official organisation

• 1939 - Commissioner for Civil Defence appointed

• 1941 - Emergency Powers Act

• Jan 1942 - arrangements for air raid warnings “backward” in SA

Conflicting views on ARP

• Building morale or creating paranoia?

• ARP: Sham or Shelter? 1940. By a group of Australian Scientists for the Research Group of the Left Book Club of Victoria

Types of air raid shelter

• Personal

• Public

• Corporate

• Military

Features of air raid shelters

• Shield from flying debris

• Entrance features blast-proof

• Robust reinforced concrete

• Ventilation

• Sanitary facilities

Subterranean

• Air Raid Practice, Australian General Hospital, Sydney, August 1942

Deep trench

• Belsize Park, UK

• Very expensive

• “Shelter mentality”

• Not used in Australia

Concrete pipes

• Adelaide, March 1942. Air raid shelter in Botanical Gardens.

Dual purpose pillbox

• Brisbane City Council public shelters

• Design allowed brick walls to be dismantled - used as bus shelters, public toilets, after the war

• 16 heritage listed today

Slit trenches

• Adelaide 1942 - digging air raid trenches

• Whitmore Square

• Most commonly used type in Australia

Public air raid shelter

• UK - designed to fit 50 people

• Many air raid shelter designs resemble public toilets

Anderson shelter

• Designed 1938 for use in backyards

• 2 million in Britain by 1939

• Manufactured by Lysaght in Australia

Morrison shelter

• June 1941

• Sleeps 2-3 people and doubles as a table during the day

Backyard trench

• Adelaide 1942

• Air Raid Precautions were a family affair

“Our air raid shelter” Recorded by Jack Davey, April 1942

• We’ve got a house down by the sea,

• We’ve been busy with the ARP,

• We’ve built a place where we can hide,

• Now it bulges when we get inside.

• It’s made of bags filled up with sand,

• And all the neighbours lent a helping hand,

• When it was built, we raised a shout,

• We rushed in and now we can’t get out.

The Repat shelters

• Three subterranean shelters - 1942

• Up to 300 people

• Military - medical

• Filled in between 1958 and 1970

The Repat project

What will we learn?

• Construction: represents level of fear?

• Style: what are the influences?

• Use: internal floor plan, artefacts

• Informal use: is there any evidence?

Contemporary relevance

• Social memory

• Can material culture mediate fear?

• Cold War, nuclear bunkers

• Responses to threats in post 9/11 world

What’s next

• 2007 - completion of geophysical survey

• Excavation to uncover air raid shelters