4.13 Under Fire: June 1940 to May 1944 Although the basic framework of the Civil Defence system in Bristol had been well planned, in the stress of the 'Night Blitz' the organisation sometimes became overstressed in which case the ordinary ARP workers had to make on the spot decisions and often extemporise. Luckily for Bristol enemy activity started in a fairly subdued manner and the small nuisance raids of the summer of 1940 were exactly what the Civil Defence services required to hone the organsiation to a high level of efficiency enabling it to perform with great professionalism when the bombing started in ernest in the winter of 1940/41 Although by mid-June 1941 the threat to Bristol was all but over the city did suffer sporadic bombing for the next three years, and it was not until the early morning of May 15th 1944 that the last bomb fell on Bristol. Luckily for the area the Allied landings on the Continent which took place in early June ensured that the V1 flying bombs and V2 rockets were never deployed against Bristol and from then on the citizens were free from the threat of aerial bombardment. NEXT