You are purchasing an original Air Raid Precautions pin issued to an Australian Air Raid Warden in Ballarat in 1939.
The pin is in fantastic condition and is quite a rarity given the location of issue and the fact that the few that do appear for sale are generally in not as good as condition.
Your chance to own a piece of history from the Second World War from Victoria.
The war never reached to the southern states despite the bombings of Darwin and the attempted mini submarine infiltrations on Sydney Harbour but it does go to show how much the entire country was on the alert.
Please see the picture.
History
Air Raid Precautions (ARP) was an organisation in the United Kingdom set up as an aid in the prelude to the Second World War dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air-raids. It was created in 1924 as a response to the fears about the growing threat from the development of bomberaircraft. Giulio Douhet had published his influential Command of the Air in 1921 and his main thesis had been memorably taken into English as “the bomber will always get through.” Air raid wardens or air-raid wardens had the task of patrolling the streets during blackout, to ensure that no light was visible. If a light was spotted, the warden would alert the person/people responsible by shouting something like “Put that light out!” or “Cover that window!”. They also patrolled the streets during air raids and doused incendiary bombs with sandbags where possible. Other duties included helping to police areas suffering bomb damage and helping the householders. ARP wardens were trained in fire-fighting and first aid, and could keep an emergency situation under control until official help arrived.
*All history taken from Wikipedia for educational purposes only.