Australian Army Museum of Western Australia > Records

World War 2, Western Australia, Air Raid Precaution Stirrup Pump

Overview

A stirrup pump is a portable reciprocating water pump used to extinguish or control small fires. It is operated by hand. The operator places a foot on a stirrup-like bracket at the bottom of the pump to hold the pump steady, the bottom of the suction cylinder is placed inside a bucket of water.[

Historical information

Air Raid Precautions (ARP) is one of the most remembered aspects of home-front Australia. Wardens carried gas masks, helmets and rattles or whistles. Schoolchildren were issued identity tags, in case they had to be evacuated to somewhere safer, and told to carry something to bite on to limit the shock of bomb blast. People often found it difficult to take ARP drill seriously, but there was a serious purpose behind i. In.IWestern Australia ARP was authorised under the Civil Defence (Emergency Powers) Act of 1940. In the rush to prepare for the looming threat many organisations were formed with overlapping tasks. Poor communication and coordination occasionally led to competition for resources and some waste of effort

Details

Details

Registration number
cwa-org-32-54-682
Links to additional resources
Home Front Organisations
Australian Army Museum of Western Australia

Australian Army Museum of Western Australia

Organisation Details
View Collection
Item Feedback

Stirrup Pump
Stirrup pump

Scan this QR code to open this page on your phone ->