October 3, 2008
AP
LONDON — The doomsday script was never used by the British Broadcasting Corp., but decades later the message remains haunting.
"This is the wartime broadcasting service," the announcement begins. "This country has been attacked with nuclear weapons."
Photo: Fear of a nuclear strike permeated Whitehall
The decades-old statement continues: Communications have been severely disrupted, and the number of casualties and the extent of the damage are not yet known. The announcer promises to bring further information as soon as possible and tells listeners to stay tuned.
A draft of the message was released by the National Archives on Friday, along with letters between government bureaucrats and BBC executives offering a rare glimpse at a Cold War secret plan to deal with a nuclear attack.
"This is chilling to read," said Mark Dunton, a contemporary history specialist at the National Archives.
At the same time, he said, the plan reveals the unique place the BBC holds in British life, with the correspondence stressing the need for the BBC to make the announcement.
Government officials planned to pre-record the message in 1974 so it could be used to communicate with the British public if nuclear war broke out.
"You see concern that any such announcements should be made by a BBC voice," Dunton said. "They feel a real need to reassure the public that in the event of a nuclear catastrophe the BBC is still there. This is seen as very, very important."
But some officials cautioned at the time that repeating the same taped announcement might lead people to believe the BBC had, in fact, been destroyed.
"If an unfamiliar voice repeats the same announcement hour after hour for 12 hours, listeners may begin to suspect that they are listening to a machine set to switch on every hour or perhaps even that it has got stuck and perhaps after all the BBC has been obliterated," T.C. Greenwood, an official at the Department of Industry, warned in a letter dated June 20, 1974.
"The reassurance that the BBC is still there would not be gleaned from a recorded announcement," the letter added.
It was eventually agreed that a taped announcement was not ideal but was better than nothing. However, it is not clear from the Home Office files released Friday whether tapes were ever made.
"It sort of peters out," Dunton said of the file dealing with the proposal, which was discussed in 1973-75, a time when tensions between the United States and Russia were high.
The draft script offered the public rudimentary instructions about how to try to stay clear of lethal radioactive fallout and advised people not to flee because they would be safer in their homes than anywhere else.
"You may die" if you go outside, the announcer was to say.
"Remember, there is nothing to be gained by trying to get away," the script reads. "By leaving your houses you could be exposing yourselves to greater danger. If you leave you may find yourself without food, without water, without accommodation and without protection."
The public is told to turn off all fuel and gas supplies and to ration food because no fresh food can be expected for two weeks or longer. Water is also to be rationed for essential drinking and cooking needs — people are told not to flush their toilets because water will be too precious for that use.
"Water means life," the announcement states. "Don't waste it."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,432084,00.html
Announcement to be Broadcast in the Event of a Nuclear Attack
The full transcript of an announcement the BBC and the Government drew up in the 1970s to be broadcast in the event of a nuclear attack
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 homes.
Remember there is nothing to be gained by trying to get away. By leaving your homes you could be exposing yourselves to greater danger. If you leave, you may find yourself without food, without water, without accommodation and without protection. Radioactive fall-out, which followed 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 fell 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 repeat this broadcast in two hours’ time. Stay tuned to this wavelength, but switch your radios off now to save your batteries until we come on the air again.
That is the end of this broadcast.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4870323.ece