ROBYN PARKES
The Emergency Precautions Scheme (EPS) and the Home Guard were both New Zealand defence organisations during World War II.
It was in September 1940 that Richmond council took steps to form a Home Guard committee made up of representatives from a number of organisations.
Waimea Farmers Union, Waimea RSA and Richmond Fire Brigade provided two representatives each, with one representative each from the Waimea Toc H and Richmond Rifle Club.
Councillors Poole and Lukey represented the council. Mr J. E. Strafford was given the rank of commander, having held the rank of lieutenant in the great war.
In December 1940, residents of Richmond, Appleby and Hope attended a Home Guard rally where captain Lucie-Smith, Nelson area commander, gave a full explanation of the movement.
The first parade of the newly-formed Richmond Home Guard Unit was held at the Town Hall on 8 January 1941, under commander Strafford.
Recruits who had not yet attested were sworn in during the evening, resulting in a full roll number of 55.
Officers were appointed as – No.1 Platoon: commander L. McMurtry and platoon sergeant M. Giblin. No.2 Platoon’s officers were fixed at a later date.
The EPS Control committee began lighting restrictions in Richmond, the Waimea area, Nelson and Motueka around March 1941.
All lights that were normally visible were to be disconnected or obscured through the use of blackout curtains or paint, and doors which faced seawards were to be kept closed.
Streetlights were shrouded or turned off, particularly on the foreshore or on elevated areas.
Richmond’s EPS transport drivers were called on for the first time at the end of March 1941, when about 90 men of Headquarters Company of the 1st Battalion Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast Regiment were holding a bivouac at Aniseed Valley and got rained out overnight.
A motor cyclist was despatched to Richmond to arrange for transport back to town.
The drivers who would have taken the men into Nelson could not be contacted, so Richmond EPS authorities and drivers were called out and by nine o’clock the men were back in town.
A blackout trial in Richmond was ordered for 28 June 1941 by Mayor A. R. Tuffnell who was controller of the EPS in Richmond, with the results being satisfactory apart from a few residents whose lights still showed through.
In June 1942, the Richmond Council was required, by EPS control, to remove the bulbs from lamps at Jubilee Park to disable the floodlights.
With new regulations issued in mid-1942, a full compulsory roll call was held on 21 July at the town hall, followed by a full-scale ‘try-out’ on 27 July, with a focus on driving under blackout conditions.
The only lights permitted on vehicles were side parking lights covered with the equivalent of two thicknesses of newspaper, but in the case of cars having no side lights, no lights at all could be used.
The blackout took place within the hours of 7pm to 8.30pm and was called and ended by a siren. During this time, it was assumed that power had failed, and units were put through a practice of bringing emergency procedures into operation.
The council was very pleased with the trial.
In June 1945, the EPS siren was taken down and fitted over the bell tower of the Fire Brigade station.
Alarm buttons were installed at the telephone exchange and Fire Station.
The Emergency Precautions Scheme was effectively replaced by the “Fire and Emergency New Zealand” system with the transition occurring over time.
