Following the disbandment of the Civil
Defence Corps, Industrial Civil Defence Service, Auxiliary Fire Service
and National Hospital Service Reserve, in 1968, little information
relating to civil defence was available to the general public, except
for the WVS/WRVS "1 in 5" campaign.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s an attempt was made by the government
to rectify the situation, the result was "Protect and Survive". "Protect
and Survive" was the title of a booklet and a Public Information Film
series produced by the British government, dealing with emergency
planning for a nuclear war.
Initially it was intended that the booklet would be issued during any
period of international tension suggesting the possibility of war. If
such an attack had been deemed likely by the Government during any
period of international crisis, a copy of the "Protect and Survive"
booklet would have been distributed to every home in the UK, and the
films would have been transmitted on domestic television. Due to public
pressure it was made available to the public in 1983. The films were not
shown.
The purpose of the programme was to provide members of the public with
instructions on how to protect themselves and survive a nuclear
attack. The booklet and the films detailed a series of steps to be
undertaken by the public to improve their chances of survival during a
nuclear attack. These included the recognition of attack warning,
fallout warning, and all-clear signals, the preparation of a home
"fallout room" and the stockpiling of food, water, and other emergency
supplies.
"Protect and Survive" was simply designed, easy to understand, and
similar to the advice of most other emergency planning authorities, in
the West, of the time. The basic content of both the booklet and the
films differed very little from that in "Civil
Defence Handbook No 10", and of the Civil
Defence Bulletins from the 1960s. In the USA a number of similar
programmes were produced the most famous being "Duck and Cover" which
was targeted at primary school children. In the opinion of some
contemporary critics, however, the "Protect and Survive" films were
deeply and surprisingly fatalistic in tone.
Duck and Cover (9m:20s)
Civil Defence why we need it
In 1980, the government also published
"Civil Defence, why we need it". It was sent to every household. If
people thought it was to be a precursor to the re-launch of a civil
defence organisation, they were mistaken. It said that civil defence was
to be placed in the hands of local authority Emergency Planning
Officers, the voluntary organisations (British Red Cross, St. John
Ambulance, St Andrews Ambulance, the Radio Amateur Emergency Network
(RAYNET), and WRVS), volunteer local authority Scientific Advisers, the
UKWMO and the Royal Observer Corps. A few local authorities improved or
updated their bunkers, but the reality was that it was largely only the
ROC and UKWMO who continued with their training in a meaningful manner.
Domestic Nuclear Shelters
In 1981 the Home Office published a
guide booklet on "Domestic Nuclear Shelters". Although this could be
purchased from Her Majesty's Stationery Office, virtually no indication
was made to the general public regarding its
availability. The booklet gives more detailed information of how to
build domestic shelters than appeared in other publications, but does
not give details of more solid structures that would require design and
construction by qualified civil engineers and builders. There was a
manual for the design of such structures but it is too large for me to
host on this site, you may find it here: https://archive.org/details/domestic-nuclear-shelters/page/26/mode/2up,
please be aware that this is heavily, and not always accurately
annotated, as well as being enormous (885Mb)!
The films
Protect and Survive was adapted for
television as a series of twenty short films. The films were classified,
at the time, and were intended for transmission on all television
channels if the government determined that nuclear attack was likely
within 72 hours, during the Transition to War
period, and as part of the BBC's. However, recordings leaked to CND and
the BBC, who broadcast excerpts from them on Panorama on 10 March 1980,
shortly after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
The films
were produced by Richard
Taylor Cartoons, who also created "Rabies
Kills" the Charley
Says child safety films and children's animations Crystal
Tipps and Alistair. They are similar in content to the booklets,
detailing the same instructions using voice-over narration, sound
effects, and a combination of simple stop-motion and illustrated
animation. Patrick Allen
was chosen to narrate. His voiceover would later be described as "the
calm, clipped vowels of a male announcer, advising how to build
shelters, avoid fallout, and wrap up your dead loved ones in
polythene, bury them, and tag their bodies." He would later
parody the recordings for Frankie Goes To Hollywood's song "Two Tribes",
announcing "Mine is the last voice you will ever hear. Do not be
alarmed".
Each episode concluded with a distinctive electronic musical phrase
composed by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop's Roger
Limb. It featured two high- and low-pitched melodies coming
together "like people".
1.
Nuclear Explosions Explained (1m:35s)
Effects of atomic weapons
2. The Warnings (2m:53s)
Attack, fall-out and all-clear
warnings
3. What To Do When the Warnings
Sound (2m:28s)
'Immediate action' drill
4. Stay at Home (1m:40s)
Techniques for sheltering in place
5. Choosing a Fall-Out Room
(2m:06s)
Choosing a safe room
6. Refuges (3m:54s)
Building an 'inner refuge'
7. Materials To Use For Your
Fall-out Room And Refuge (1m:55s)
Radiation shielding materials
8. Make Your Fall-out Room and
Refuge Now (4m:42s)