If the UK had ever been nuked...

[Zaxxon]

Pugster said:

I remember watching "Threads" as a teenager and it completely scared the crap out of me for months after. Such a grim film. I've seen it since and it still stands up.

The US version http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085404/ wasn't quite as grim but I've read somewhere that it affected Reagan and changed his mind on US Nuclear policy. Don't know how true that is mind.

I live fairly close to Chicksands which at the time was a major US base so I expect we'd have been ash which would have suited me just fine!

I mentioned Chicksands earlier as I grew up in Maulden. Still remember the Elephant Cage (huge military antenna), and going up to the base for the open days. Great fun for a small slice of America on the doorstep.

I have been told that the base is now even more 'sneaky beaky', although would probably no longer be a 1st strike target.

[Pugster]

Zaxxon said:

I mentioned Chicksands earlier as I grew up in Maulden. Still remember the Elephant Cage (huge military antenna), and going up to the base for the open days. Great fun for a small slice of America on the doorstep.

I have been told that the base is now even more 'sneaky beaky', although would probably no longer be a 1st strike target.

Yep I remember the cage. When I go past there now and look in that field it was in I still think there is something missing. I also remember going to an open day there. For some reason all I can remember is the huge hot dogs they had on sale. That was a yearly event wasn't it?

I don't think the base exists anymore since they built the new council offices on the site.

[Pugster]

Cheburator mk2 said:

I still cannot bring myself to watch this, eventhough I downloaded it...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Man's_Letters

Never heard of that one before

[King Herald]

Crossflow Kid said:

King Herald said:

My dad worked at RAF Cosford much of his life, and we lived within nuke fallout range....

...as did pretty much everyone in the UK when you consider its size.

I mean bits of the bomb falling on us, we were living about 5 miles away.

[Zaxxon]

Pugster said:

Yep I remember the cage. When I go past there now and look in that field it was in I still think there is something missing. I also remember going to an open day there. For some reason all I can remember is the huge hot dogs they had on sale. That was a yearly event wasn't it?

I don't think the base exists anymore since they built the new council offices on the site.

I just remember getting very drunk there and civil war re-enactments on the main field.

I thought that the base was now used for very special training....not sure tbh, it may have been info from a mate of a mate etc.

[Tokar]

Currently worked by DISC (defence institute security corps (I think?)). They train the spies to spy, mostly... Can't say any more! Nothing too secretive up there now, not that we were told about anyway. Used to work in the officers mess, plenty of foreign officers there too.

There is also a fall out shelter near the entrance to the base, just in case...

[AshVX220]

Chicksands would still be a first strike target, certainly for a large attack. For a terror attack (which is where the fear currently is) it would be high on the target list if they had a number of weapons.

As for movies, yes "The Day After" did indeed cause Ronald Reagan to altar policy in some way. But the programme was also slated. Because it tried to give the impression that such an attack was surviveable and also that life afterwards would be a reasonable option. Whereas "Threads" got the reality right, in that anyone with a brain wouldn't really want to survive.

Editted to add;
I live near Pompey, so would probably snuff it in the first wave thankfully.

Edited by AshVX220 on Tuesday 10th January 15:43

[MikeGTi]

Tokar said:

Currently worked by DISC (defence institute security corps (I think?)). They train the spies to spy, mostly... Can't say any more! Nothing too secretive up there now, not that we were told about anyway. Used to work in the officers mess, plenty of foreign officers there too.

There is also a fall out shelter near the entrance to the base, just in case...

Defence Intelligence and Security Centre, and contrary to popular belief most of the things that go on there are really quite mundane. Mostly taken up by admin and phase 2 and 3 training.

I doubt it would be a priority target for any kind of nuclear attack as it would produce no real strategic effect, nor tactical for that matter.

http://www.army.mod.uk/intelligence/about/default....

[Nuclearsquash]

http://www.carloslabs.com/projects/200712B/GroundZ...

Have fun

[Pugster]

That's superb!

A 50Mt bomb takes out most of Bedfordshire!

[paddyhasneeds]

So, the moral of the story seems to be, if you have to be anywhere when all this goes down, be in South America?

[King Herald]

paddyhasneeds said:

So, the moral of the story seems to be, if you have to be anywhere when all this goes down, be in South America?

I work on a ship, currently 200 miles offshore. That would be an odd place to observe from when civilisation is being wiped out.

I guess communications would be the first thing to go, then we'd decide to sail away from the oncoming cloud of 'shiny moonbeams'.

Then we'd all argue about where we wanted to sail to before we ran out of food, fuel and water.

[paddyhasneeds]

Not Australia apparently, I think that's where our remaining nuclear subs would be headed.

[croyde]

King Herald said:

paddyhasneeds said:

So, the moral of the story seems to be, if you have to be anywhere when all this goes down, be in South America?

I work on a ship, currently 200 miles offshore. That would be an odd place to observe from when civilisation is being wiped out.

I guess communications would be the first thing to go, then we'd decide to sail away from the oncoming cloud of 'shiny moonbeams'.

Then we'd all argue about where we wanted to sail to before we ran out of food, fuel and water.

They made a film about that too, with Gregory Peck, it was called "On the Beach".

[jmorgan]

Adaptation of a Nevile Shute book

[croyde]

jmorgan said:

Adaptation of a Nevile Shute book

I've read it

[King Herald]

jmorgan said:

Adaptation of a Nevile Shute book

I wonder if it is out on Kindle yet.....

[jmorgan]

Ditto read it. That long ago though.... time to get another book.

[croyde]

King Herald said:

jmorgan said:

Adaptation of a Nevile Shute book

I wonder if it is out on Kindle yet.....

It is:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beach-Vintage-Classics-ebo...

It's a good read.

[tdm34]

My Father was a 16 Sqn bod based in Germany, he talks of some pretty scary things
but one thing he used to say to us after he demobbed and we returned to Scouse-ville
Everytime we drove past RAF Burtonwood he used to mention that the USAF used to
store special weapons there, and that if the balloon went up there'd be strikes
against Liverpool, Warrington and Manchester, basically the the North West of England
would've been turned into a sheet of glass.....