The first recorded incident of the Second World War locally was just two weeks after Germany invaded Poland when six year old Kenneth Walsh fell in an air raid trench and fractured his arm. The trench had been dug “by someone with good intent” on an old council rubbish tip near Back Eshald Place. A week or so later an air raid shelter was built close to the Midland Hotel and bus stops on Aberford Road
Men who hadn’t joined the forces took part in four organisations responsible for civilian safety. A number of special constables were recruited to help the regular police. Then there were Air Raid Precautions (ARP) wardens under the control of the Rothwell Urban District Council. Others trained to be part of the Auxiliary Fire Service. Lastly there was the Home Guard, later made famous in the tv programme Dad’s Army.
Heavy curtains and shutters were required on all private houses, shops and other business premises, to prevent light escaping and so making them a possible marker for enemy bombers to locate their targets.
The ARP wardens and special constables’ main duty seems to have been to enforce the blackout. Their first prosecution came at the end of November 1939 when housewife Alice Roberts was fined 20 shillings at Leeds West Riding Court for “showing a light in a dwelling house.”
