McNab, Chris The Blitz. Operations Manual

The Blitz was one of the gravest threats the UK has faced in its long history. From August 1940 to May 1941, the island nation was subjected to a relentless campaign of aerial bombing. German night raids gutted towns and cities, rendering thousands homeless (250000 Londoners were homeless by October 1940 alone), killing 43500 civilians and wounding 139000 more.
That the Blitz did not bring the UK to its knees is due, in large part, to a vast response by Civil Defence services and the British people themselves. Preparations for enduring a strategic bombing campaign began in the mid-1930s with the development of the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) organisation, and by late 1938 more than 700000 people were serving in ARP roles. During the war itself, some 1.5 million people took up duties in the Civil Defence (General) services, in roles ranging from air raid wardens to ambulance drivers to heavy rescue parties.

That the Blitz did not bring the United Kingdom to its knees was largely due to the extensive response of the civil defence services and the British people themselves. Preparations for a strategic bombing campaign began in the mid-1930s with the development of the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) organisation, and by the end of 1938 more than 700,000 people were involved in the ARP. During the war itself, around 1.5 million people were involved in civil defence, from air raid wardens to ambulance drivers and heavy rescue squads.

This book describes in detail the developments of British air and civil defence measures before and during the Second World War.