Air Raid Noise Experiment

These pictures in the Google Arts picture archive don't come with any explanatory text, except that they're from an "Air Raid Noise Experiment" conducted in Nuneaton in 1941. But I suspect that the experiment was part of a series of psychological experiments conducted in the UK in 1941 that attempted to "harden Britons to bomb shock." The idea was to expose people to the sounds of air raid sirens and battle sounds so that they would lose their fear of them. As described in the news clipping below:

The suggestion was advanced that whole populations be put through the experiment to make them 'immune, through familiarity, to fear caused by air raid noises.'

The Greenfield Daily Reporter - Nov 28 1941

I've been aware of these experiments for a while. I previously posted something about them back in 2009. But I just came across these photos and realized they must be from one of these experiments.

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Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 02, 2017
Category: Noises and Other Public Disturbances of the Peace | War | Experiments | Psychology | 1940s

Comments

Made me think of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnTwMcr2srk

Posted by KDP on 11/02/17 at 04:52 PM

After a few of those drills, those guys probably could no longer hear anything at all. That's one way to make them immune to air raid sounds. Also takes care of the missus' nagging.

Posted by Virtual on 11/04/17 at 10:13 AM

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