Hi everyone, As I mentioned in the "What are you watching?" thread, I finished viewing the 2002 film "The Gathering Storm", about Winston Churchill. The film ends on (or shortly after) September 3rd, 1939 - The day that war was declared on Germany. In the film, Churchill heads into a building (presumably one to do with the Royal Navy) and you can see sandbags and tape everywhere. The tape is criss-crossed over the window-panes - obviously to hold the glass together if it shatters...But can someone please explain to me the purpose of SANDBAGS? In several WWII films and in dozens of old photographs, I keep seeing sandbags stacked up outside buildings and I have never understood why they're there...What purpose do they serve?
These had several purposes. First, they offered some additional protection from blast and fragmentation. Second, they were a ready source of firefighting material for incendaries. Sandbags could also be used to protect doorways and other exits from being readily blocked in the event the building or nearby buildings became damaged.
Ah-hah!! Thanks very much, T. A. Gardner. That was what I was hoping to find out An excellent answer.
Oof. i thought a newbie asked why it was called sandbag OOF really almost threw the laptop trough the window, picking it back up, back to the shop and buy my mommy a new one!!
Well, Sandbags in the UK, and on Active Service, rarely had sand in them... except perhaps in the desert. Certainly that was the case in the British Army.
