Clearing out a load of junk in the loft (have been topping up the loft insulation) found a copy of this guide as to what to do in the case of nuclear attack.
I particularly liked the recommendation to include some aspirins in your first aid kit - I guess nuclear explosions can give you a headache!
It says to keep the booklet handy Can I throw it away yet?
www.atomica.co.uk/main.htm
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i think the aspirin is to stop your blood thinning and oozing out your nose and making grandmar think youze a zombie ;-)
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Aspirin thins your blood, or so my GP told me when he prescribed it. Some people look like zombies whether they are taking it or not!
Last edited by: Perky Penguin on Wed 23 Feb 11 at 20:26
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I can just remember when fuel coupons were issued - but not brought into use - after the Arab Israeli war in 1973.
It prompted an uncle of mine to unearth old coupons he had from the Second World War - I think he was hoping to get double ration.
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>> I can just remember when fuel coupons were issued - but not brought into use
>> - after the Arab Israeli war in 1973.
>>
>> It prompted an uncle of mine to unearth old coupons he had from the Second
>> World War - I think he was hoping to get double ration.
I would have been about 13 at the time and remember parents collecting them from post office. At least one friend of the family still had theirs issued at the time of the Suez crisis.
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...At least one friend of the family still had theirs issued at the time of the Suez crisis...
My uncle's might have been from Suez, but what I do know is they were in mint condition, still in the original envelope.
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I seem to remember that the 1974 coupons were in fact new old stock left over from 1956.
I've still got mine somewhere.
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Having a vague interest in the value of general ephemera, I looked up both the protect and survive leaflet and the 70s fuel coupons on eBay. Each might get a few pence. But what ever is this all about? Is it really worth it? And these things actually sell too!
cgi.ebay.co.uk/TESCO-5p-OFF-LITRE-FUEL-COUPON-Expires-06-03-11-/170606728216?pt=UK_Tickets_Trave_Vouchers_Coupons_LE&hash=item27b8f41418
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The Bay of Pigs was the most serious incident
I still remember crates of .303 rifles that had been delivered to police stations in Manchester to deal with looters and civil unrest.
I believe we were only a very short time from a nuclear war until the Russkies backed off.
We did regular Civil Defence training in the 60s. Take a door off, lean it against a wall and sandbag it. ! That'll stop the Reds getting you ! Stations had a 4 minute warning machine which you had to test. The air raid sirens on the roof were also tested...after due warning to the public in the media.
Ted
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Funny you should post about this CG, I found myself here the other weekend. www.secretnuclearbunker.com/
It was an interesting experience. Although I was old enough to, I didn't really remember this stuff. The bunker is privately owned and some of their commentary was fairly open about the cynicism behind some of the government advice and warnings etc. Would recommend a visit if you are in the vicinity.
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interesting smokie,i was invited to go there a few years back but we had to dress in the camouflage gear to keep it authentic
they never collected me :-(
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Funnily enough used to live in nearby Pilgrims Hatch, about 3 miles away, the seventies and had no idea it was there at the time. Don't suppose they would have found room for me in the bunker then! Will certainly give it a visit some time.
Most of the advice in the booklet is fairly laughable really e.g.
"If you live in a caravan or other similar accommodation which provides very little protection against fall-out your local authority will be able to advise you on what to do.
I wonder if anyone every checked with the council and what answer did they receive?
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That's what I was thinking PU :-)
I do remember in the early eighties all of this stuff even then. And did wonder what good huddling under a door with a few tins of beans would do.... if someone nuked us we'd probably be dead already and if not would be not long after getting out from under the protective door.
Not long after my dad died we went on a holiday already planned. Not much of a holiday.... It also happened to be in a static caravan too. There was a programme on one night at the time (HTV) about this sort of thing... maybe World in Action? Would have been in 1980. I thought about the possibilities a lot one night at the time. :-(
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>> And did wonder what good huddling under a door with a few tins of beans would do..
I know next to nothing about the subject, but..
Blast is a big problem, and hiding behind the door as described would give you more of a chance with the flying glass from your windows.
However, radiation is another topic altogether.
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And even if you survive the blast and manage to hide away from the radiation there is the lack of infrastructure (electricity, phones, radio). The thoughts of it all are really quite scary.
At times the commentary at that bunker strongly implied that the govt planning revolved around keeping the "leaders" alive but not really doing too much for the rest of us. For instance the radio warnings would be deliberately "late" to prevent mass panic etc. (and of course radio would be knocked out after the bang anyway). The long corridor to the bunker was not only to absorb some of the shock but also to enable those in the bunker to defend it against any mere mortals who tried to get in.
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>> At times the commentary at that bunker strongly implied that the govt planning revolved around
>> keeping the "leaders" alive but not really doing too much for the rest of us.
Government had to endure, even if there was nothing left to govern.
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>> And did
>> wonder what good huddling under a door with a few tins of beans would do....
Early Steve Bell 'If' cartoon was 'If Lemings Read Protect & Survive'. Final frame was of lots of furry animals hurling themselves of a cliff; each was hanging onto a door.
More chillingly, who else remembers Raymond Briggs's 'When the Wind Blows'??
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>> More chillingly, who else remembers Raymond Briggs's 'When the Wind Blows'??
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Did have/Still got it on VHS somewhere.
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The Protect and Survive leaflet was the inspiration for the film I believe.
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...Iffy probably did...
It's a tin box, it might be quite good against radiation.
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>> It's a tin box, it might be quite good against radiation.
if it survives the blast
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqyBzXYZPoM
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>>
>> The Bay of Pigs was the most serious incident
>>
>>
>>
You mean the Cuban Missile Crisis, in October 1962.
The Bay of Pigs was a month earlier, and was simply an embarassing fiasco until the Russians escalated the confrontation by installing missiles.
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>> I still remember crates of .303 rifles that had been delivered to police stations in
>> Manchester to deal with looters and civil unrest.
>>
They sent machine guns to the nick in Liverpool.
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They sent machine guns to the nick in Liverpool.
They never got there though.
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I have a few Tesco vouchers as I shop there. But the fuel light comes on my car when there's about 9 litres left. So that means the most I am likely to put in is about 55 litres and probably less. So the voucher saves around £2.50.
But the local Tesco is about £1.32 or maybe £1.33 a litre at present. The Asda near to where I am working is about 3-4p cheaper per litre.
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I used to live near Pilgrims Hatch as a kid. It was fairly obvious what it was, few bungalows have MOD grade barbed wire concrete posts round them.
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few bungalows have MOD grade barbed wire concrete posts round them.
they do now - Brentwood's not what it was
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Ah yes of course, that was before the Bilericay Travellers moved in.
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Reminds me of a classified ad in our local paper about 10 years ago.
'For Sale.
Nuclear Fall-Out Suit. Good Condition. Never used. £9'
Wish I'd cut it out
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Anyone remember that drama/doc Threads ? Brilliantly made.
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Is it safe to throw this away yet? - Bellboy
