Measures for Passive Defence in Lower Danube Harbours

Abstract

After the Great War, Romania was also preoccupied with reducing the probability of being bombed and tried to minimize the damaging effects caused by hostile actions intended to destroy ships in Galaţi, Brăila and Tulcea harbours and to frighten the population. There are three directions to studying the harbours: the activity of health officers and ambulance; the Hydraulic Service; the activity of harbour police and firefighters. Archival and historical files show hospital teams that were responsible together with the Red Cross formations for giving first aid; harbour police had to watch over people who wanted to bomb the ships, and firefighters were watching over the harbour from towers and extinguishing fires. The Danube`s geostrategic position and the three harbours made the Lower Danube region a preferred target for airplanes (Tulcea had especially numerous air raids); the attacks destroyed economic and strategic objectives, reshaping the town, that was left deserted by bussinessmen after the IInd World War. As a result, every buildind had to arrange or build bomb shelters. Galaţi, Braila and Tulcea had to learn how to protect themselves against air raids from the bitter lesson of a war-struck economy: as a result, the telephonic service was most of the time uncontinuous because of the composite circuits.