This First Aid Outfit No 4 box, for the ARP (air-raid precaution) personnel is a nice compact, quick and easy first aid kit, used during WW2. These kits were part of the larger civil defence effort to protect civilians and provide immediate medical assistance during air raids. While it won’t help you sew on a severed limb, it was there to aid some of the more ‘basic’ injuries one might receive during an air raid. That’s not to say it’s only for grazed knees however. It contained the correct items (splints) for setting fractured bones and even tourniquets for controlling bleeding. Printed on the inside of the lid, is a set of basic instructions and useful information.

This box, made from cardboard is still in good condition, opens and closes properly but the best thing is; the top hasn’t caved. All too often boxes like these get mistreated and the lid gets something heavy placed on it. This one is still nice and flat, with all text readable and clear. It doesn’t contain ALL original first aid pieces inside, but most are still here suggesting this was actually used during the war, or at least after.

This particular box contains:

Absorbent Boric Lint 1oz, absorbent white lint 1oz, 3x bandages 3” x 4yds, bandage 2 ½ x 4yds, triangular bandage pack, 7x safety pins, small tube of burnol cream, length of string, roll of gauze and a roll of lint.