How to deal with a nuclear attack
Having been a child in the 1980s, i now how to lie down and cover myself for a nuclear attack.
(Robotnik, Wed 6 Jul 2011, 14:55, 24 replies)

I'm currently sitting under the stairs behind a mattress with a supply of tinned green beans.

( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Wed 6 Jul 2011, 15:00, closed)

And you're not coming out until you've said sorry to your sister.

( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Wed 6 Jul 2011, 15:02, closed)

I don't even own an sister.
:(

:(

:(
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Wed 6 Jul 2011, 15:17, closed)

Precisely.

( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Wed 6 Jul 2011, 15:26, closed)

Take planty plenty of plastic bags into your hidy hole to wrap the bodies of family members who die first
was always the cheeriest bit of advice.

Along with warnings about anal bleeding. Oh! And remeber, you probably won't be able to cash a cheque, Boots will be shut and rubbish collection may be disrupted. So it's like Christmas really, only with more roasted meat.
( Ring Of Fire A petty, drooling belming butthurt retard., Wed 6 Jul 2011, 15:17, closed)

And luggage labels to ties to people's toes.
When you tell youngsters about how we were sure we were going to die any minutes they don't believe you.
( Mrs Entity is in hiding., Wed 6 Jul 2011, 18:25, closed)

Wasn't it you who lived with regular air-raid siren drills in the 80s???
no sleepless nights for those children then.
( Ring Of Fire A petty, drooling belming butthurt retard., Wed 6 Jul 2011, 15:19, closed)

Oh yes, every wednesday at 12.00 they tested the old WW2-style sirens. Nowadays, with the newfashioned electronic sirens, it's only once a year.
(Robotnik, Wed 6 Jul 2011, 22:28, closed)

i know that this won't work
because i know what happens after a nuke goes off from watching threads at school in the 80s
(Alphabet Soap boshboshboshbosh, Wed 6 Jul 2011, 15:21, closed)

Well, it CAN work, if you cover yourself with something substantial
...like Scotland.
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Wed 6 Jul 2011, 15:42, closed)

To be fair
Threads did show how to very quickly improve the living conditions for the average Sheffield family
(Bonzodog29 is an unemployed sponge of the worst kind, Wed 6 Jul 2011, 16:16, closed)

"A nuclear device was detonated in Sheffield today.
Experts say that it is likely to have caused several billion pounds worth of improvements."
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Wed 6 Jul 2011, 16:28, closed)

They shown you THAT at school?!
I saw it for the first time about 2 years ago... oh man is that film disturbing.
( Bourbon Fox Bourbon is a moron, Wed 6 Jul 2011, 16:30, closed)

It was pretty much required viewing for '80s schoolchildren.
Grim times.
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Wed 6 Jul 2011, 16:47, closed)

I was an '80s school kid
And I never saw the whole thing until last year. I managed to see a bit of the start by hiding behind the living room door. I got caught and sent to bed, but only after I'd seen Anne Sellors' pivotal scene.
( SteamedCleaner, Wed 6 Jul 2011, 17:19, closed)

I'm glad the Cold War ended in '91.
If I saw that as a kid I'd have slept with the light on. Under the table. In the cellar.
( Bourbon Fox Bourbon is a moron, Wed 6 Jul 2011, 18:31, closed)

I just watched that on Google Videos
D:
( Major Turd for tonight only, Wed 6 Jul 2011, 22:08, closed)

Can you imagine being shown that as a kid?!
I can't even watch it again it disturbs me that much. I know it sounds like I'm just a pussy, but fuck...

There was an American one called The Day After or something, but it wasn't nearly as scary.
( Bourbon Fox Bourbon is a moron, Thu 7 Jul 2011, 12:53, closed)

Am I misreading 50s as 80s?
I started school in 84 but don't recall any of that.
We were just shown videos about not playing on building sites / railway lines / electric substations and crossing the road while safely avoiding being abducted by the paedo in the glowing red ford capri.
(Greencloud Wanted to go fishing on, Wed 6 Jul 2011, 17:44, closed)

You'd have been too young.
We were all already dead from radiation poisoning by then.
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Wed 6 Jul 2011, 18:15, closed)

That's because the government has erased your memory with microwaves

( Ring Of Fire A petty, drooling belming butthurt retard., Wed 6 Jul 2011, 18:52, closed)

Probably too young if you started in 1984
The late 70s - early 80s were the Protect and Survive era. We didn't do "Hide under your desk" drills like I've seen them doing in America, but we were certainly well aware of the adverts the government put out on television outlining what to do in the event of a nuclear strike. Mostly what I recall about those adverts was that fallout appeared to be extremely noisy. But everyone seemed to assume that it was as likely to happen as not, at that time.

My father was pencilled in to be Middlesbrough's scientific advisor in their post-strike recovery phase. He declined in the end a) because it would have meant leaving his young family behind and b) because the "bunker" they were intending to use had windows facing out onto the street so it seemed a bit pointless. He did get to keep a bunch of secret calculators and documents though - secret at the time because if anyone saw just how horrendous the after effects were likely to be then they'd get rather upset. I must dig them out, actually, they were very interesting.

I now live just down the road from the remains of a sensibly-designed underground bunker - accessed only by ladder - which was permanently manned by the Royal Observer Corps; initially they would use a Bomb Power Indicator to measure overpressure from any bomb blasts, then they would monitor the air for radioactive particles, and use this to determine the extent of the danger zones. There were more than a thousand of these posts all over the country, which gives you some idea of how seriously it was all taken.
(richardm, Thu 7 Jul 2011, 11:05, closed)

For more info...
If like me you're interested in Cold War civil defence/Regional Government structures (and who isn't quite frankly), I would heartily recommend the SubBrit.org website.

They're a research group primarily dealing with researching man-made Subterranean structures. Amongst other things, they have a detailed list of all the ROC posts in the UK.

Incidentally, you can identify anyone who has lived in Sheffield before 2002 by showing them Threads. They'll cheer without fail when the Town Hall 'Egg Box' offices get hit by the blast wave...
(cliftos2000, Thu 7 Jul 2011, 12:10, closed)

My dad was Gary Moore,
you insensitive bastard.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Thu 7 Jul 2011, 13:15, closed)