The Hingham Committee for National Safety worked hard during WWII to warn citizens of an impending attack by either airplanes or ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Sirens like the one on this pole peeking over the roof of 55 Kimball Beach Road were scattered about town and tested on a regular schedule.
When sounded people were instructed to take cover until the all-clear was sounded. (Two minutes of slow blows.) One shopkeeper, not remembering the schedule, mistook the fire horn for an air raid warning, stopped traffic in Hingham Square and sent people into his shop for cover…