Throughout the 1930s the British government made preparations for war as the aspirations of German Chancellor Adolf Hitler became increasingly more menacing. It was anticipated that this conflict, when it eventually began, would not be confined to the battlefield but would extend to the Home Front. Experts predicted that bombing raids would kill hundreds of thousands of people and the provision of adequate protection for the civilian population was top of the government's list of priorities. In November 1938, ten months before Hitler's invasion of Poland, British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain placed Sir John Anderson in charge of air raid precautions. The air raid shelter he commissioned would become a household name. Issued free to householders on a yearly income of below £250, the Anderson shelter consisted of galvanised corrugated steel panels which had to be sunk into the ground to a depth of 4ft and covered with at least 15 inches of earth. No easy t...