Protect and SurviveProtect And Survive

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

Domestic Nuclear Shelters

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)

Preparing for an attack

9. What To Put In Your Fall-out Room (3m:03s)

Essential supplies

10. Action After Warnings (4m:13s)

Detailed 'immediate action' drill

11. Water and Food (2m:41s)

Provisions for 14 days

12. Sanitation (1m:33s)

Makeshift toilet arrangements

13. Fire Precautions (2m:02s)

Expedient firefighting techniques

14. The Importance Of Your Radio (1m:20s)

Portable radio as a vital aid

15. Life Under Fall-Out Conditions (2m:51s)

Survival during an attack

16. What To Do After An Attack (2m:29s)

Post-attack actions

17. Sanitation Care (2m:40s)

Essential hygiene

18. Water Consumption (1m:28s)

Safeguarding and rationing water

19. Food Consumption (1m:40s)

Rationing food

20. Casualties (1m:27s)

Expedient casualty care and mortuary actions

With the exception of videos the site content of Tocsin-Bang by Stephen J. Cook is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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