Press Release - 6th June 2003

War Time Life Revealed In Archive Poster Find

Staff at Wolverhampton City Council's Archives Department have recently uncovered some posters dating from World War Two in pristine condition.

Entitled "How To Get Help After An Air Raid" the posters give a glimpse of the horrors of war. A large (51cm x 78cm poster) advises members of the public on how to get help if they had lost their gas masks, identity card and ration books. If, after a bombing raid, your house was damaged by enemy action the local council - in this case the former Tettenhall Urban District Council - provided Rest Centres for immediate refuge. One of the posters simply reads in bold red letters "This is a Rest Centre".

Amongst the file of papers discovered in the archives of Tettenhall Urban District Council stored at the City Archives in Snow Hill, there are circulars relating to emergency bread and milk distribution, information on how rest centres were to operate and what to do with people who had suffered loss after an air raid attack.

City Archivist, Peter Evans, explained : "These posters are a fascinating find. They were obviously file copies which were never actually used, which means they look as fresh now as they did in 1941 at the height of the war. The posters give us a fascinating - and indeed quite frightening - glimpse of local daily life in wartime conditions".