http://boar.org.uk/ariwxo3LSCBul24-5.htm
Latest edit 15 Jul 2009
Interactive
version ©2008 R.J.PENHEY
The Bourne Archive
An Extract from
Warfare
Paragraph 5. (p.7 – 8).
ANIMALS
KILLED OR INJURED BY ENEMY ACTION
Information has been received from
the Ministry of Food (Meat and Livestock Division) that the organisation known
as N.A.R.P.A.C. for dealing with animals killed or injured as a result of enemy
action has ceased to exist. As there appears to have been some misunderstanding
in some areas in regard to the proper action to take when animals suitable for
food have been killed or injured by enemy bombs, this item is inserted for the
information of all concerned, particularly those special constables who are
owners of cattle, so that valuable carcasses may be preserved for food.
(a) Dead Animals Suitable for Food
Where an animal suitable for food
has been killed by enemy action the carcass is useless for human consumption
unless it is bled and disembowelled within
one hour of death . The responsibility lies with the owner or shepherd in
charge on the spot to save the carcasses for food, if they are discovered in
time.
(b) Injured Animals Suitable for Food
The initial responsibility still
lies with the owner or shepherd in charge to avoid unnecessary suffering and to
preserve the carcasses for food. The police services, however, can render
useful assistance, either in summoning the Ministry of Food’s slaughtermen from
the nearest abattoir, in cases where large numbers are involved; or, in
isolated cases, by killing and disembowelling the animals themselves, if they
know how to do it; by summoning a veterinary surgeon, if one lives within a
reasonable distance; or by procuring the necessary implements, which many
farmers already possess, and seeing that the owner or some other competent
person slaughters and disembowels the injured animals with the least possible
delay. The general order issued to the regular police on this subject is being
amended when further information has been received.
Commentary
From early in the Second World
War, after the Fall of
France, special
constables (part-time volunteer policemen) in Lincolnshire were informed of
wartime developments and their morale maintained, by a small (typically 8 pp.
215 x 139 mm) booklet, issued to them by Lincolnshire
Constabulary. It appeared monthly, early in the month following the one in
the title, until Issue 27 of September 1942, when restrictions on the use of
paper ended its run.
The reports and instructions in
them show a mixture of officialdom, bravery, down to earth common sense and
occasionally, a small glimpse of naïveté. I have selected this paragraph
because it illustrates the common sense, in circumstances which must have been
a new experience for some of the S.Cs. In its way, it illustrates the kind of
thinking made necessary by the War; an example of the kind of small practicality
left un-appreciated by many modern commentators.
Links to other issues of the Bulletin
and Instructional Pamphlets.