Ministry of Home Security's Research and Experiments Department

Photocopies of records of the Ministry of Home Security's Research and Experiments Department held at the National Archives relating to the bombing of Swansea, 1941-1943

The purpose of the bomb census was to provide as quickly as possible, a complete picture of raids taking place across Britain so that an assessment could be made of raid patterns, types of weapon used and the consequent damage, in particular to strategic services and installations. The bomb census began in September 1940, in London, Birmingham and Liverpool. It was extended gradually to cover the rest of the UK by September 1941. Regional technical officers of the Ministry of Home Security Bomb Census Organisation co-ordinated the collection of information by local Civil Defence services and the Police. The location of the bombs that fell were plotted as accurately as possible and the bomb plots, together with the information collected in the field were transmitted to the Research and Experiments Branch of the Ministry of Home Security on a series of standard forms. A network of War Rooms digested and summarised the information and sometimes collated it with intelligence from other sources. The reports were distributed to the Cabinet, Air Ministry, local authorities and to government departments with responsibility for civil defence.

No restrictions

A hard copy is available at the West Glamorgan Archive Service

Usual copyright regulations apply.

All records received by the West Glamorgan Archive Service have been retained

Accruals are not expected.