ABSTRACT
The first indication of the Army Medical Corps attitude came during an earlier rehearsal of an air-raid. It had been carefully planned by ARP wardens to ensure that Civil Defence and service emergency teams would know exactly what to do in the event of a raid. In the end, it turned into more of a pantomime than a serious exercise. In charge of the Army's medical team, which was supposed to play a key role in the rehearsal, was Colonel McElhone, the Assistant Director of Medical Services who was later vehemently criticised by his own medical staff for his method of running the Darwin medical services. Army Headquarters was more sympathetic to the struggle of the ARP committee to gain its rightful recognition from Abbott to such an extent that at one point serious consideration was given to passing a Defence Act that would have allowed the ARP Civil Defence organisation to become a militia body.
