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Nuclear War in the UK @coldwar.org.uk · 13/11/2024

A few years ago, I came across these pics of an ROC Post under construction at Hog's Back in Surrey. These bunkers played a crucial role in the UK's civil defence strategy, but it's rare to see one being built. More images on the blog: coldwar.org.uk/building-a-b... #coldwarhist #nuclearwar #bunkers

A man in a uniform stands on top of a half-completed Royal Observer Corps monitoring post bunker. He's leaning against the ventilation shaft, which is yet to be buried. There's excavated earth and chalk all around. The photo looks to be from the early 1960s.

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Nuclear War in the UK @coldwar.org.uk · 26/12/2023

They can make me come to dinner But they can't stop me thinking about crow game

A cheese on the dinner table called BLACK CROWDIE

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Nuclear War in the UK @coldwar.org.uk · 08/11/2023

My book is apparently on the official reading list of the Tanzania People's Defence Force. Thanks Tanzania, and good luck with whatever you're planning!

Cover sheet of a document entitled 'Tanzania People Defence Force - Supply of Books - Invitattion for Tender'. It shows that 3 copies of my book 'Nuclear War in the UK' are required.

My hand holding a copy of the book 'Nuclear War in the UK'.

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Nuclear War in the UK @coldwar.org.uk · 27/10/2023

The placement of When the Wind Blows next to this Halloween display of children's books is either very intentional or completely unintentional

Raymond Briggs's nuclear horror graphic novel "When The Wind Blows" on a shelf next to books about pirates and witches

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Nuclear War in the UK @coldwar.org.uk · 27/10/2023

The Survivors - a real-life 'nuclear family', as depicted in a Daily Mirror special report at the height of nuclear anxiety in late 1980.

A newspaper article showing a family wearing full protective gear against nuclear attack.

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Nuclear War in the UK @coldwar.org.uk · 26/10/2023

The radomes, aka golf balls, at RAF Fylingdales in Yorkshire. Part of BMEWS (the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System), they helped provide the UK's 'four minute warning' ahead of incoming nuclear attack until the early 1990s. Also pictured is the RAF Fylingdales operations room.

A newspaper article from the 1980s captioned 'The Warning - Four minutes, but there won't be time to tell YOU'.

Golf ball-style radar domes on a Yorkshire moor, set against a dull sky.

A busy 1970s operations room full of RAF staff.

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Nuclear War in the UK @coldwar.org.uk · 25/10/2023

Like most bunker-building companies in the UK in the '80s, Bentall Simplex's stock in trade wasn't nuclear shelters. It was an agricultural engineering company, making products like grain handling equipment. Others building shelters as a sideline included marine engineering firms.

A 1980s photo of a Bentall Simplex fallout shelter being installed in the ground.

A 1980s magazine ad for a fallout shelter captioned 'The shelter that saves'.

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Nuclear War in the UK @coldwar.org.uk · 25/10/2023

An early 1980s ad for the Bentall Simplex home fallout shelter, which was designed to meet UK Home Office standards. Note the family happily enjoying their comfortable new life underground.

An advertisement for a fallout shelter which reads 'How the Bentall Simplex Shelter secures your family's future'.

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Nuclear War in the UK @coldwar.org.uk · 24/10/2023

The wholesale destruction of Hull in a devastating Soviet nuclear strike, as envisaged by the in-house artist at Hull City Council, 1984.

A booklet titled 'Hull and the Bomb', showing a painting of a mushroom cloud over Hull, in graphic detail.

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Nuclear War in the UK @coldwar.org.uk · 23/10/2023

Official map of the UK's Home Defence regions from 1979. After nuclear attack, government would be devolved to each region, led by a Regional Commissioner, who would have absolute authority (see 'Threads' for details - the film, not the app). Which region would you have been in?

A map of the UK divided up into administrative regions

Cover of Radio Times from 1984 showing the traffic warden character from 'Threads', his eyes bandaged, carrying a rifle.

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Nuclear War in the UK @coldwar.org.uk · 22/10/2023

In case of nuclear attack on the UK during the Cold War, authority would have been devolved to the regions. This is the 1970s 'War Book' for East Sussex. This was a guide that set out in some detail how the county would be run after the bomb.

The cover of a folder marked ESCC War Emergency Scheme.

A page of text from the East Sussex war book, explaining how the council will operate during a nuclear conflict.

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Nuclear War in the UK @coldwar.org.uk · 20/10/2023

Some alternate, rare presentations of the UK government's 1980s 'Protect and Survive' guidance. This described what to do in a nuclear attack. Pictured are a spread designed to be printed in national newspapers, the Army's 'aide memoire' version, and an edition made for the Isle of Man.

A newspaper layout showing instructions on what to do in the event of nuclear attack

A pocketable card with instructions for soldiers on building makeshift fallout shelters

A booklet titled Nuclear Survival, with a mushroom cloud silhouetted on the cover

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Nuclear War in the UK @coldwar.org.uk · 19/10/2023

Protect and Survive. The UK government prepared this multimedia (TV, radio and print) campaign in the mid-1970s, to be released only when nuclear attack was deemed likely. The Thatcher administration published it in 1980 after it was 'leaked' by The Times and on the BBC's Panorama.

Cover of Protect and Survive booklet, showing an icon of a family enclosed by a circle

Pages from Protect and Survive, showing a mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion.

Instructional diagrams showing a man constructing a makeshift fallout shelter from a door.

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Nuclear War in the UK @coldwar.org.uk · 18/10/2023

If you saw the nuclear flash, you might have literally seconds to act. Would you know what to do? This guide from the Combat & Survival weekly partwork magazine (1987). Don't forget that the flash may temporarily blind you even if you're well beyond the blast range. Good luck!

Magazine article titled 'Surviving a Nuclear Strike', with a photo of a soldier wearing a gas mask

Illustration showing methods of surviving a nuclear blast

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Nuclear War in the UK @coldwar.org.uk · 17/10/2023

Hello all! I'm going to re-share 'classic' nuclear content from the other place over the coming days to get started. Hopefully it won't intrude too much on your shiny new timeline. The plan is to then post the same content on both platforms until Twitter inevitably crashes and burns. Let's go!

A picture from the UK government leaflet 'Protect and Survive', showing a man creating a rubbish fallout shelter from a table.

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