Galvanised steel megaphone marked, "SUSSEX POLICE FORCE, HURST", with fold down metal handle.
Use
To amplify instructions and warnings to the public
Context
During World War Two local police forces and their chief constables were charged with overall control and co-ordination of Air Raid Precaution or ARP activities and preparations. Throughout the war police forces worked very closely with the ARP and other emergency services during and in the aftermath of bombing raids.
This item probably dates to the civil defence preparations before and during the conflict. There is a photograph of an ARP Control Officer in Getty Images, using an identical megaphone in November 1939 and it is probably a standard piece of ARP equipment. It is stamped "Sussex Police Force", which may indicate that it dates from after April 1943 when a combined force for the whole county was formed from all of the Sussex forces. The word "Hurst" is thought to signify Hurst Green.
