THIS large group of members of the Grove Mills ARP volunteers services, photographed in September 1940, was duly enlarged, framed and hung in the office of Robert Clough (Keighley) Ltd.
As early as 1936, Keighley’s Town Clerk, Medical Officer of Health, Fire Brigade Chief Officer and chairman of the Watch Committee were attending a Leeds conference of local authorities on the subject of air raid precautions.
Consequently ARP services were operational long before war actually broke out, but the start of hostilities in 1939 brought many new volunteers and injected a sense of urgency into first-aid courses and anti-gas training.
There was even an ARP section devoted to animals, intended not only to provide emergency veterinary care, but also to protect the public “from panic-stricken or gas-contaminated animals”. Spencer Street vet HM Holland took charge of the Keighley district. In the event of air raids on Keighley, injured animals would have had their own first-aid post in some Alice Street kennels.
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