Its prolonged whine induced terror - but also saved lives.
The sight of Luftwaffe squadrons appearing on the horizon heading towards Britain triggered them as an early warning to civilians in the sights of Nazi bombers.
They were sounded in our cities, towns, and villages and were a sign to get off the street and dart for cover.
But in 1999 after 50 years of service they were culled by the Home Office which ordered them to be scrapped.
But in a village in Greater Manchester one has survived - and now has Grade II listed status.
It is mounted on a pole in Cecil Road, Hale.
Many passing it will no idea that it is an air raid siren installed in 1938.
It, and thousands of others across the UK, played a vital role in the country's defence network.
Now, thanks to the dedication of a military historian from Sale, it has been granted Grade II listed status.
Amazingly it remained operational throughout the Cold War with Soviet Russia during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. It was not decommissioned until 1993.
It has been listed by the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on advice by Historic England.
This follows an application by local military historian George Cogswell, from Sale, who was evacuated from London as a child in 1944 to escape Nazi Germany’s bombs.
The siren was installed as concerns grew about the threat to the civilian population from bombing campaigns.
It was intended to sound a warning of imminent air attack, allowing the Air Raid Precaution (ARP) services to take up their posts and the public time to take shelter.
Following the end of the Second World War, the beginning of the Cold War saw the air raid warning system adapted to provide warning of nuclear attack, controlled by the United Kingdom Early Warning Organisation (UKEWO).
One of 7,000 powered sirens across the country, the Hale air raid siren was finally decommissioned in 1993, following the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and end of the Cold War in December 1991.
The majority were removed after the Home Office ordered them to be scrapped in 1999, but Hale’s air raid siren escaped the cull.
Mr Cogswell said: “The impact of the War was everywhere at that time, it was normal to play in bomb sites as children. I recall the sound of V1 rockets launched at London – the sound recordings of them even now still sends a shiver down my spine.
"The air raid sirens were an important part of our national response to this threat and when I discovered a rare example of this system surviving in the local area I wanted to save it, particularly as it is such a rare and highly visual landmark of the war-time Home Front.”
An estimated 1,482 civilians were killed across the Greater Manchester area in bombing raids during the Second World War. They included police, fire, and ambulance officers, first aiders, and ARP wardens.
The losses included 14 nurses killed when a bomb struck Salford Royal Hospital in Chapel Street on the night of June 2nd 1941.
Five of the 14 were buried together at St Mary's RC Church cemetery in Wardley Street. Another three, all aged 19, who had trained together, were buried at St Anne and Blessed Dominic Church in St Helens.
Roger Thomas, Listing Adviser at Historic England said: “We are delighted that Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport have supported our recommendation that Hale’s air raid siren is listed.
"It is an extremely rare example of a surviving Second World War air raid siren and it serves as a reminder of the experience of the civilian population under aerial attack during the Second World War, and of the fear of nuclear attack during the Cold War."
