Four-minute warning
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The four-minute warning was a public alert system conceived by the
The warning system
Basic details
The warning would be initiated by the detection of inbound
Throughout the Cold War, there was a conflict between the Royal Air Force and the Home Office about who was in charge of the warning system. This was not for any practical or technical reason but more to do with who would be blamed if a false alarm were given or if an attack occurred without warning. By the 1980s, the warning was to be given on the orders of a Warning Officer from the Home Office's Warning and Monitoring Organisation stationed at RAF Booker near High Wycombe.[2]
From the early 1960s, initial detection of attack would be provided primarily by the
The British government was not the main beneficiary of BMEWS, given that it would only receive what
UKWMO and the ROC
It was the responsibility of the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation (UKWMO) at the United Kingdom Regional Air Operations Centre (UK RAOC) located at
Linked into the system were the twenty-five Royal Observer Corps (ROC) group controls, also with direct links to the carrier control points. In the event of subsequent radioactive fallout, local fallout warnings could be generated from the group controls on a very localised basis over the same carrier wave system.
The national warning system saw many changes over the years. During the 1960s and 1970s, much of the local authority
Sirens
The national siren system originating from World War II had a secondary role of "general warning", particularly for imminent flooding. Following the end of the Cold War, a telephone-based system was thought to be more appropriate for national warnings and less expensive to maintain.
Additionally the government retains an ability to break into television and radio broadcasts for the purpose of alerting the general public[citation needed] and has legal power to take over editorial control of the BBC during a national emergency under the BBC Charter and the Broadcasting Act 1980.
The national siren system was largely dismantled during the 1990s. The British government cited the increasing use of double-glazed windows (which make sirens harder to hear) and the reduced likelihood of air attack as reasons to eliminate the system in most parts of the country. Some coastal and river areas have retained and regularly test the sirens as part of the flood warning defences. Since 1952, Broadmoor Hospital has employed a network of 13 sirens to warn of escaped patients; this is tested every Monday at 10 am. The hospital sirens were scheduled for removal during 2018 except for one located in the hospital grounds. Carstairs Hospital also retains its sirens, which are tested monthly. In some towns, sirens were once used to summon part-time firemen until the introduction of radio pagers during the 1970s – these 'stand alone' sirens operated independently of the warning network.
Torness nuclear power station in East Lothian Scotland uses two of these sirens as a warning of an off site nuclear emergency, tested every Tuesday morning at 10 am.
Sample script
The following is a script that would have been broadcast in the aftermath of an attack, available from the BBC:[5]
This is the Wartime Broadcasting Service. This country has been attacked with nuclear weapons. Communications have been severely disrupted, and the number of casualties and the extent of the damage are not yet known. We shall bring you further information as soon as possible. Meanwhile, stay tuned to this wavelength, stay calm and stay in your own house.
Remember there is nothing to be gained by trying to get away. By leaving your homes you could be exposing yourself to greater danger.
If you leave, you may find yourself without food, without water, without accommodation and without protection. Radioactive fall-out, which follows a nuclear explosion, is many times more dangerous if you are directly exposed to it in the open. Roofs and walls offer substantial protection. The safest place is indoors. Make sure gas and other fuel supplies are turned off and that all fires are extinguished. If mains water is available, this can be used for fire-fighting. You should also refill all your containers for drinking water after the fires have been put out, because the mains water supply may not be available for very long.
Water must not be used for flushing lavatories: until you are told that lavatories may be used again, other toilet arrangements must be made. Use your water only for essential drinking and cooking purposes. Water means life. Don't waste it.
Make your food stocks last: ration your supply, because it may have to last for 14 days or more. If you have fresh food in the house, use this first to avoid wasting it: food in tins will keep.
If you live in an area where a fall-out warning has been given, stay in your fall-out room until you are told it is safe to come out. When the immediate danger has passed the sirens will sound a steady note. The "all clear" message will also be given on this wavelength. If you leave the fall-out room to go to the lavatory or replenish food or water supplies, do not remain outside the room for a minute longer than is necessary.
Do not, in any circumstances, go outside the house. Radioactive fall-out can kill. You cannot see it or feel it, but it is there. If you go outside, you will bring danger to your family and you may die. Stay in your fall-out room until you are told it is safe to come out or you hear the "all clear" on the sirens.
Here are the main points again: Stay in your own homes, and if you live in an area where a fall-out warning has been given stay in your fall-out room, until you are told it is safe to come out. The message that the immediate danger has passed will be given by the sirens and repeated on this wavelength. Make sure that the gas and all fuel supplies are turned off and that all fires are extinguished. Water must be rationed, and used only for essential drinking and cooking purposes. It must not be used for flushing lavatories. Ration your food supply—it may have to last for 14 days or more.
We shall be on the air every hour, on the hour. Stay tuned to this wavelength, but switch your radios off now to save your batteries. That is the end of this broadcast.
Cultural impact
The Cold War and the fear of nuclear attack permeated pop culture up until the 1990s. Examples include the song "Four Minute Warning" by the British punk band Chaos UK (EP "Burning Britain", 1982), the poem "Your Attention Please" by Peter Porter, a solo song by Take That singer, Mark Owen, and "Four Minutes" by Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd fame) on his 1987 solo album Radio K.A.O.S.. John Paul Jones has a song entitled "4-Minute Warning" on the 1988 Brian Eno album Music for Films III. The first single of the UK rap crew Gunshot, from 1990, was entitled "Battle Creek Brawl (4 Minute Warning)". A Radiohead track from the 2007 Bonus Disc album In Rainbows Disk 2 is titled "4 Minute Warning".
The four-minute warning was a central plot and narrative device in dramas (both on stage and screen) and novels, often being the motor force of plays, films, novels and cartoon strips. The BBC drama
The adult humour comic
See also
- Civil Defence Information Bulletin, a precursor to Protect and Survive
- Emergency Broadcast System
- Emergency Alert System
- CONELRAD
- HANDEL
- Mobile phone alerts in the United Kingdom
- Protect and Survive
- Transition to war
- Wartime Broadcasting Service, a broadcasting service run by the BBC that would operate after a nuclear attack or if conventional bombing had destroyed conventional broadcasting systems.
References
- ^ Jodrell Bank article
- ^ Conflicts over the political fallout explained, subbrit.org.uk
- ISBN 0-19-828012-2.
- ISBN 978-0297863526.
- ^ "BBC Transcript to be Used in Wake of Nuclear Attack" (PDF). BBC News. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
External links
- UKWMO Communications chain – message dissemination
- Nuclear secrets of 1975 revealed, (Link), BBC News, 29 December 2005.
- Peter Donaldson's 1970s recorded warning message (Real Audio).
- The details around Peter Donaldson's warning message
- The script that would have been broadcast in the event of war
- BBC post-attack broadcasting plans in 1955
- Carrier Control Point equipment located at major police stations