“Protect & Survive” are a series of Government short Public Information Films that citizens of Great Britain are glad they never had to see. Designed to educate the public about the dangers of nuclear attack and fallout, they were to be shown in the event that things began to turn badly between East and West.
Is that first announcer Roger Moore?
As a school boy of the 70s and 80s, we were shown these. The UK Government have since openly admitted that the measures described in these films were designed purely to keep people off the streets and out of the way in the event of a nuclear exchange, and would have had little if no effect on helping the general populace survive. There are many “secret” nuclear shelters that are now open as museums.
Indeed, there are a few now open, Alan. One of them is the ‘Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker’, ~30mi NE of London, just outside the M25, in Essex, which is a three storey underground facility designed to hold 600 people. The film linked above is one of the many short films on show throughout the museum. It’s an interesting place, although unfortunately owned by a man who refuses to spend much money on it, so it’s all a bit ‘tired’ looking. I worked there for a couple of months, as crew on a film, then carrying out some renovations, so I almost have these public safety films memorised, as I heard them so often.
A great military museum to visit in Essex is the Combined Military Services Musuem (http://www.cmsm.co.uk). I imagine most of the readers of SSD would love it there. There’s a massive display of SOE equipment, and supposedly the largest collection of unique firearms in Europe. It seems like a well run place, and is nice and tidy, and somewhat kept up to date. Worth a visit.