Army manual of hygiene and sanitation, 1934 / [War Office].

Date:
1941
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Army manual of hygiene and sanitation, 1934 / [War Office]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    79/310 (page 81)
    It may be said, therefore, that sanitation in hutments Billets Billets are made use of in peace time when parties of more which troops are not quartered, where there is no barrack accommodation, or when they are not encamped. (King’s Regulations, 1928, para. 1052.) On active service, billets are the usual form of quarters in to the enemy; they allow of proper rest and give shelter from the weather and from observation from the air, while the cellars of houses afford cover from bombardments or aerial attack. (Field Service Regulations, 1930, Vol. I, Sec. 141.) When troops have to be concentrated in an area, they may be put into close billets, when as many men as possible are accommodated in buildings and the remainder are bivouacked. Billeting parties should ascertain from the mayor, civil authorities, medical officer of health, local doctors or police, details of the local water supply, the conservancy system, the health of the local population and the existence of communi- cable diseases. The local authorities are required to take such sanitary measures as may be needed to render the selected premises suitable, but the assistance of the troops is usually necessary, and advisable, for the construction of additional cookhouses, latrines and washing places. Notices should be posted on the doors of houses where there are infectious diseases and any other houses where it is undesirable to quarter men. : Cover is all that can be expected in billets on active service and any premises which are, or can be made suitabie for human occupation may have to be used; when it is not possible to put premises into a satisfactory sanitary condition, and no others are available, it is better that the troops should bivouac. Accommodation in billets can seldom be provided on the same scale as in barracks, and overcrowding, particularly in close billets, is unavoidable ; special attention must therefore Satisfactory ventilation is difficult to maintain, unless officers and N.C.Os. ensure that air inlets are kept open. Extra as soon as possible, as such civilian conveniences are frequently inadequate and unsuitable; for this purpose it may be necessary to employ civilian labour, but their work should be supervised by military sanitary personnel.