The National Registration Act 1939 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. The initial National Registration Bill was introduced to Parliament as an emergency measure at the start of the Second World War. The Act provided for the establishment of a constantly-maintained National Register of the civilian population of the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man, and for the issuance of identity cards based on data held in the register, and required civilians to present their identity cards on demand to police officers and other authorised persons. Following the passing of the Act by Parliament on 5 September 1939, registrations and the issuing of identity cards commenced on 29 September. Registration and identity cards Every man, woman and child had to carry an identity (ID) card at all times and the cards would include the following information: Name Sex Date of birth (and thus age) Occupation, profession, trade or employment. The Register had also collected information on the role of persons in institutions, indicated by the initial letter of the terms Officer, Visitor, Servant, Patient, or Inmate. Address Marital status Membership of Naval, Military, or Air Force Reserves, or Auxiliary Forces, or of Civil Defence Services or Reserves. The register differed from the decennial census in a number of ways, one of which was the place of birth was not recorded, and the second was that the register was meant to be a living document. Hence, perusal of the register shows that maiden surnames have been replaced by married surnames when registered persons later married. In England and Wales, a team of 65,000 enumerators delivered forms ahead of the chosen day. On Friday 29 September 1939, householders were required to record details on the registration forms. On the following Sunday and Monday the enumerators visited every householder, checked the form and then issued a completed identity card for each of the residents. All cards at this time were the same brown/buff colour. Some 45 million identity cards were issued. The estimate of the population of England and Wales for 1939 was 41.465 million exclusive of army, navy and merchant seamen abroad, and some sources record the register as so the figure of 45 million may include the members of the armed forces abroad or in Scotland. Three main reasons for the introduction of the identity cards were: The major dislocation of the population caused by mobilisation and