If the UK had ever been nuked...
Discussion
Brigand said:
There's another bunker very similar to Strike's at Northwood just outside London. It's a Joint Military place now, mainly Navy though IIRC.
Both bunkers were not a place to be if you were claustrophobic, tight corridors, small rooms, and stale A/C air. They do have a little NAAFI shop in the depths though! They are around five or six levels deep, and constructed inside a giant faraday cage to negate any EMP effects. As previously stated though, neither could withstand a direct hit.
They were pretty exciting when entering them, you'd head into the side of the 'hill' they had on top of them, then find the huge steel door that was straight out of the movies that had the giant spinning wheel in the middle to lock or unlock it. After that though it was just like being in any 1960's office block.
The BBC Bunker, they don't want you to know aboutBoth bunkers were not a place to be if you were claustrophobic, tight corridors, small rooms, and stale A/C air. They do have a little NAAFI shop in the depths though! They are around five or six levels deep, and constructed inside a giant faraday cage to negate any EMP effects. As previously stated though, neither could withstand a direct hit.
They were pretty exciting when entering them, you'd head into the side of the 'hill' they had on top of them, then find the huge steel door that was straight out of the movies that had the giant spinning wheel in the middle to lock or unlock it. After that though it was just like being in any 1960's office block.
Talking about bunkers, is their anyone from the BBC who would care to enlighten
us on the current state and purpose of the Wood Norton Bunker, near Evesham.
Code name PAWN standing for Protected Area Wood Norton.
As you know Wood Norton was setup as the fallback HQ for the Wartime
Broadcasting Service during the Second World War, in the event of the Luftwaffe
disrupting the Corporations other facilities in London, Belfast, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
BBC Wartime Broadcasting Service
In the post-war era, plans were revised so that the Wartime Broadcasting Service
would cope with a nuclear strike by installing 54 low powered transmitters and
keeping (what remained of) the main transmitter network in reserve, in case
Soviet bombers used them to home in on targets.
To facilitate it new role, starting in 1966 and with edition through to the
1970's, Bredon Wing was built as an addition to the training centre, containing
a 175-foot-long (53 m) nuclear fallout bunker beneath it.
A mast was constructed on top of the hill behind the hall and was fitted with an
SHF dish (microwave link) to Daventry.
The bunker (known as PAWN - Protected Area Wood Norton) and mast, and many other
installations, were referred to as "deferred facilities" within the BBC.
Wood Norton's secrets continue beyond the Cold War
Despite the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the
end of the Cold War, the Wood Norton bunker facility continues to this day.
A veil of secrecy still surrounds the BBC Bunker - The Independent
Freedom of Information request declined
With the BBC and the Government continuing to remain tight lipped about the role
of the Wood Norton bunker following the Cold War.
A number of urban myths have arisen:
Namely that its the BBC and Government command centre in the event of an Alien
invasion of Britain.
Its 'under wraps' as the secret location for Dr Who's, last stand against the
Dalek's.
Its a time capsule for all the Science fiction props used by the BBC.
Edited by John William on Wednesday 25th January 17:50
Funny - I was reading about some of those earlier, there was a wee one up in Perth - http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/c/cultybraggan...
tank slapper said:
Sam the Mut said:
what defence does the uk have now, if a nuclear missle was fired towards us?
It might be possible to shoot down a nuclear armed cruise missile if there was warning of it coming. We don't have any defence against an ICBM.tank slapper said:
Typhoons could kill a cruise missile, and so could a Type 45. The hard part is having them in the right place at the right time to engage it before it's too late. With no warning whatsoever, I would imagine it would get trough.
I believe the Yankee B2 spirit is armed with top launched anti ICBM warhead missiles. Although how much use that would be to us is uncertain 
I don't think the B2 carries any ABM weapons, but the US have certainly been developing them for land and sea deployment. The SM-3 missile can intercept IRBMs and theatre ballistic missiles like Scuds, and the latest Patriot missile can do likewise. There is also the THAAD system, but there aren't many of them and I don't know if they can intercept ICBMs. ICBMs are hard to stop because they are extremely fast. At 4000m/s plus, there isn't much margin of error. They also are likely to have 8 or more warheads as well as decoys, which means that you would have to launch several missiles at each one to ensure a hit. It's why the best counter to ICBMs is to have your own ICBMs waiting to fire back in order to persuade someone from not launching in the first place.
tank slapper said:
I don't think the B2 carries any ABM weapons, but the US have certainly been developing them for land and sea deployment. The SM-3 missile can intercept IRBMs and theatre ballistic missiles like Scuds, and the latest Patriot missile can do likewise. There is also the THAAD system, but there aren't many of them and I don't know if they can intercept ICBMs. ICBMs are hard to stop because they are extremely fast. At 4000m/s plus, there isn't much margin of error. They also are likely to have 8 or more warheads as well as decoys, which means that you would have to launch several missiles at each one to ensure a hit. It's why the best counter to ICBMs is to have your own ICBMs waiting to fire back in order to persuade someone from not launching in the first place.
Very true, M.A.D. Is a very effective strategy.This is pretty amazing footage. Gives you an idea just how long you would have after you saw the warhead !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChhYOO1s-nY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChhYOO1s-nY
Another very interesting video showing the mechanics of the 'end of the world'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jFCmfAhhQg&fea...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jFCmfAhhQg&fea...
Does anyone know anything about this building in Blackpool:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=fy4+4bd&hl=en&...
When I was a kid I was told it was something to do with submarines / ICBM design (whatever preceeded Trident). The mast that's in the left of the streetview link is now used for mobile phones, etc but back in the early 80s it used to be just to the right of the green gate (where the conrete triangle is). It's had some modern alteratins to done, originally it was a lot more like the 60s look Burtons Biscuit building opposite.
Google reveals nothing.
ETA: Polaris, that's what I think I'm thinking of.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=fy4+4bd&hl=en&...
When I was a kid I was told it was something to do with submarines / ICBM design (whatever preceeded Trident). The mast that's in the left of the streetview link is now used for mobile phones, etc but back in the early 80s it used to be just to the right of the green gate (where the conrete triangle is). It's had some modern alteratins to done, originally it was a lot more like the 60s look Burtons Biscuit building opposite.
Google reveals nothing.
ETA: Polaris, that's what I think I'm thinking of.
Edited by Oakey on Sunday 29th January 22:03
Defcon5 said:
Uncle Fester said:
I spent much of the Cuban missile crisis in our cellar and still go cold remembering the fear believing it was imminent.
Would you care to go into a bit more detail? I cant imagine what it must have been likeWhen you state that you can’t imagine what it was like I suspect you answered your own question. Unless you live through something like that then you really can’t imagine what it was like emotionally.
Many British people responded stoically and tried not to mention it to anyone, or at least to strangers. In a strangely fatalistic way people tried to go about their everyday business whilst pretending there wasn’t an elephant of megaton proportions glowing in the room.
I was old enough to be fully aware of what was happening, but hadn’t left school in 1962. Although the majority of the population could remember the war, I was too young. The experience of the previous war had taught many how to mentally cope with the prospect of being killed by a bomb at any moment. I remember my mother telling me how she had routinely slept in the Anderson shelter. Rather than have the interruptions of having to go down every time the siren sounded they had built bunk beds down there and just used it as a communal bedroom.
However her attempts to reassure me were totally undermined by the look on her face. She was aware of the difference between conventional and nuclear weapons and was trying to calm me.
You could see it in her eyes. You could see it in everyone’s eyes. Wherever you looked people had those eyes; I guess I did too. It was a mix of emotions written in their faces, terror, shock, despair. Yet despite this they were ‘trying to put a brave face on it’. They were smiling but it was a smile with terror behind it, a really odd expression.
Showing emotions was terribly un-British. People were afraid that if they mentioned it then they would allow those feeling to fully surface and they would panic. Perhaps more to the point many thought that if they allowed those feeling to gain control they would slip into madness. Remember many of us knew someone who had slipped into madness through allowing the terror of warfare to seize control of their mind. In 1962 plenty of First World War veterans hadn’t even retired from work. Some of them remembered that look in the eyes from the trenches.
People were going through the motions of their lives like robots, trying to keep busy not to think about it. Those actually busying themselves with any serious attempts at precautions were a minority. The majority seemed paralysed like rabbits in the headlights.
People seemed to try and cling onto comforting routines and they seemed to sometimes become over-exaggerated. It was like everyone was aware of how fragile everyone was emotionally and was trying to be super polite. My father joked it was like two people each insisting the other should have the last deck chair on the Titanic, since they would be happy to stand listening as the band played on. Surreal; I seriously doubt if the population would respond the same way, people think differently. Manners are sadly no longer a part of the everyday behaviour for many.
Our own reaction was slightly different. My Mother’s uncle worked within the heart of government and we were better informed than most. This resulted in us making some very unusual preparations.
One that I still find most uncomfortable was overhearing my parents plotting to kill me. Obviously I understand that it would have been necessary to put those who had suffered mortal wounds or a lethal dose of radiation out of their misery. In hindsight I would have planned to do exactly the same thing to spare my children from suffering. That doesn’t help the way I feel about it.
Uncle Fester said:
Defcon5 said:
Uncle Fester said:
I spent much of the Cuban missile crisis in our cellar and still go cold remembering the fear believing it was imminent.
Would you care to go into a bit more detail? I cant imagine what it must have been likeTheHeretic said:
BertB said:
Not sure if you've ever seen
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090163/
but certainly worth a look if you're thinking along those lines!
Probably one of the scariest films, mainly because you can easily see how it would turn out like that. All the preparation in the world would not prepare you. No-one is equipped to get by in that situation, except for a few folks who already live off the land. Scary stuff. 'When the Wind Blows' was as good, in my opinion, but hid it with a cartoon, (on a slightly related side note, Mills and whats-her-name did that voiceover in one take)http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090163/
but certainly worth a look if you're thinking along those lines!
SeanyD said:
Facinating film, I missed it in the 80's, probably too young, but just got to watch in on DVD over christmas. Really makes you appreciate the longer term picture, which will impact on future generations for decades and decades after the event.
Threads was superb. It did however neglect to mention that in a situation like the one portrayed, the southern hemisphere countries (Australia, New Zealand in particular) would almost definitely help us out to some extent. It wouldn't be quite as bad as they portrayed.Gassing Station | Science! | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff