THIS week in 1938, Britain was in a state of quiet panic.

Hitler’s Nazi regime was demanding to take control of the Sudetenland – the culturally German parts of what was then Czechoslovakia.

Czechoslovakia, an ally of Britain, refused, and it looked as though war would break out within days.

That was why the Adver’s front page carried instructions for building emergency bomb shelters which were little more than holes in the ground.

The plans referred to them as Funk-Holes, an old nickname for a place far away from war. In the event of aerial bombardment they would be nothing of the sort.

However, with a 10ft trench said to be sufficient for six people, the old meaning of “funk” as a bad smell would surely have come into play.

“The sketch attached,” we said, “illustrates an emergency trench to accommodate six persons which can be rapidly prepared in a garden.

“It is drawn from designs prepared at the Home Office. It consists of a shelter 4ft6in deep and 4ft6in wide at the top, narrowing to 3ft6in at the bottom.

“It is covered with corrugated iron or old planks resting on sand bags, sacks or old boxes, filled with earth from the excavation.

“This covering should be laid at a slight slope to drain off rain water and should be covered with two or three inches of earth to hold the roof down; the remaining earth should be piled against the sides of the boxes or sand bags.

“A short length of the roof (just sufficient to accommodate an adult) should be free from earth covering so that it can be moved in order to admit the occupants, and closed up when they are inside.”

The Home Office advised propping up the walls with braced planks to prevent collapses.

The instructions continued: “The floor of the trench should be cut so as to slope slightly towards a hole in the ground, made large enough for a bucket to be dipped in, in order to remove any water which may drain toward the lower end.”

Householders were recommended to lay a floor of boards or old cinders, and to dig their trenches away from buildings to reduce the risk of being trapped by falling rubble.

They were also reminded to take their gas masks to the shelters, which would have been especially worrying to those who had yet to be issued with one.

A few days later a new round of distribution was announced, with civilians told to go to polling stations and collect their masks.

No boxes were yet available to store the respirators in, and no respirators at all were available for children aged under four.

In the event, Hitler was allowed the Sudetenland and appeased for another year.

By the time war did break out, Britain was somewhat better prepared.