Three cinemagazine items demonstrating the consummate efficiency of the essential services.

1. Who Are You?

Commentator Herbert Hodge gently reminds us that "they've got us all safe now, provided we don't lose our identity cards", while enumerators across the country record the names of 13 million householders during the national registration of 1939.

2. Standing By

Darts and knitting don't just pass the time, they are essential because if enemy aircraft reach our shores, these doctors and nurses need to be physically and mentally fit.

3. Where's the Fire?

"The second fire of London is now blazing, in theory that is." Being a volunteer fire fighter wasn't the easy way out as this footage of an Auxiliary Fire Service drill on the Thames shows.