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Thursday, August 19, 2010

1942: THOMAS E. GLOVER-AIR RAID WARDEN

How well I remember those blackouts back during World War II! The siren from Colonial and the ear-piercing Klaxon horn from Rusling Hose in nearby Broad Street Park would make enough noise to wake up the dead. Pop Glover and Brother Len would head for the steps in the cellar way, lift off their coats, pick up their steel air raid warden helmets, grab a flashlight and a police whistle and head out into the COMPLETELY dark night, looking for errant neighbors who failed to extinguish all lights, flagging down motorists who drive by with headlights on and other precautions. The air raid "blackout" was at first a frightening thing to a boy of 9. The mere thought of an enemy bomber flying over the Trenton area and dropping bombs was not something to ignore. Thus, the air raid warden. When the "all clear" signals rang out from the aforementioned fire companies, it was back to normalcy.

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