Description
Physical description
shelter
steel construction with a flat top, sprung base and mesh sides. The sides are detachable.The shelter measures 6ft 6in x 4ft x 2ft 6in high.
Label
Second World War period British domestic air raid damage protection for civilians. The Morrison Shelter was specially designed so that the space it took up was not wasted, since it could serve a double purpose - as both table and shelter. The sides were detachable and could be removed for table use. The floor was sprung to make a more comfortable base for a mattress. Two adults and one child (or two young children) could sleep in it. It was for erection only on the lowest floor of a house, where it gave excellent cover against the debris of a two or three-storeyed house. The shelter was supplied in pieces with simple instructions on how to assemble it. Two average people could put the shelter up in one or two hours.This type of indoor steel air raid shelter, named after the Home Secretary and Minister of Home Security, Herbert Morrison, became available to householders in 1941. It meant that people could then sleep in their own homes with a considerable degree of added safety. Over one million were in use by 1945.
History note
Extract from original caption: Mr Herbert Morrison, Home Secretary and Minister of Home Security, commenting in the House on 11th February 1941 on the introduction of the new type of indoor shelter, said that even in London at the height of the "Blitz", 85% of the population were sleeping at home or in small shelters at or near home. The new shelter would mean that its possessors could sleep in their own homes with a considerable degree of added safety. The indoor steel air raid shelters, named after the Home Secretary and Minister of Home Security, Herbert Morrison, became available to householders in 1941, and it meant that people could now sleep in their own homes with a considerable degree of added safety.
Over one million were in use by 1945.