Anderson shelter

The Anderson shelter was a personal bomb shelter used by some 2.25 million London families during The Blitz. The shelter consisted of 14 sheets of corrugated iron or corrugated galvanized steel, which were assembled to form a shell 6 feet high, 4.5 feet wide, and 6.5 feet long. The structure was assembled in a 4-foot-deep pit dug in the family garden, then it was covered with at least 15 inches of earth. The idea of domestic air raid shelters is generally attributed to Home Secretary John Anderson, who had responsibility for civil defense. On November 10, 1938, Anderson tasked William Paterson, an engineer, with designing a suitable shelter. Working with his business partner, Oscar Carl Kerrison, Paterson produced a blueprint for the shelter within a week of receiving the assignment. A week after this, he delivered a prototype. It is said that Anderson "tested" the prototype by jumping on it with both feet. However, he also turned the prototype and blueprints over to the Institution of Civil Engineers, which supplied expert evaluation by three engineers, David Anderson (no relation to John), Bertram Lawrence Hurst, and Sir Henry Jupp. This committee approved of the design, and the Anderson shelter went into production. By February 28, 1939, the first shelters were delivered to householders in Islington, North London. They were issued free to all households earning less than £250 annually and at a charge of £7 for those with higher incomes. Before production and issuance of the shelters was discontinued in mid-1941 due to a shortage of iron and steel, 2.25 million had been erected. They were of use only to families who had a garden in which to erect and bury them. Although families did their best to make the shelters comfortable, even installing bunk beds in them, they were cold and subject to flooding. Yet A London family enters an Anderson shelter. (Museum of the City of London) 56 Anderson, John they were quite effective during The Blitz, affording protection from everything except a direct hit.