Ask an aid worker and the paeans to tarpaulin will come pouring out. Skip to main content. SECURITY. POLITICS. THE BIG STORY. ... color, thickness, and so on---they could get manufacturers to bid ...

Today, tarpaulins are made from plastics but, until the 20th century, they were made from flax canvas imported from Ireland and the Baltic, produced in Britain and coated in water-resistant tar.

5. During World War Two, British tarpaulin was supplied to the Soviet army as part of the allied war effort against Nazi Germany. 6. A tarpaulin was part of an early survival kit against nuclear ...