Summary

Alternative Name(s): Certificate (inscribed 'This is to certify...')

Blue fabric-covered folding Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Warden's identity card, issued to Herbert Leslie Blakeley on 21 November 1939 by the State Emergency Council for Civil Defence. Herbert was the ARP warden for the Little Lon area in inner Melbourne. He worked at the family business, W.H. Blakeley & Company Pty Ltd, saw manufacturers, at 13-21 Little Lonsdale Street. A significant collection of material relating to his experience as a warden is held by Museum Victoria.

Air Raid Precautions were a central home-front activity in Australia during World War II. ARP wardens were trained by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade. One of their main duties was to patrol blacked out streets, ensuring that home-owners had shaded or turned off lights that might be seen by the enemy. In the event of an emergency, wardens were intended to identify the type of attack, ensure the population had taken cover, and manage (or support) rescue, fire control, communications and decontamination as needed. They wore arm bands and helmets to distinguish them, and carried gas masks, helmets and rattles or whistles. At the height of the emergency resulting from Japan's advance south in 1942, over 60,000 people in Victoria carried out Air Raid Precautions warden duties.

Herbert Blakeley (1890-1973) was the son of William Henry Blakeley (1839-1921), founder of the saw manufacturing empire WH Blakeley & Company Pty Ltd. In 1920 Herbert formed a 50:50 business partnership with his father William, then aged 81. William Henry died the following year, and almost immediately Herbert Leslie incorporated the company. Following the creation of W.H. Blakeley & Co Pty Ltd, the company sold their premises at 115 Lonsdale Street, and bought premises at 13-21 Little Lonsdale Street, adjacent to Casselden Place. The company was opposed to the compulsory acquisition of 'Little Lon' by the commonwealth government, acting as nominee plaintiff for the whole precinct in the High Court action of 1953. Unsuccessful in its action, the company relocated to Nicholson Street in Fitzroy in 1961. Herbert Leslie remained head of the company until 1970; his brother William (1905-1995) managed it until 1989. The company, now based in Clayton North, is still in family hands and continues to trade to this day.

Physical Description

Blue fabric-covered folding cardboard identity card with off-white paper form pasted on the inside. Form is printed and filled in by hand. The Victorian coat of arms appears at the top, above the inscription.

Significance

Part of a collection Air Warden material - a rare, significant and near complete record of an aspect of World War II civilian military life.

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