Protect and Survive

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The front cover text reads: "This booklet tells you how to make your home and your family as safe as possible under nuclear attack".
The front cover text reads: "This booklet tells you how to make your home and your family as safe as possible under nuclear attack".

Protect and Survive was the title of a series of booklets and a public information film series produced for the British government during the late 1970s and early 1980s dealing with emergency planning for a nuclear war. The phrase also referred to a wider programme of national civil defence.

Contents

[edit] Origins

Protect and Survive has its origins in the civil defence leaflets dating back to 1938, titled The Protection of Your Home Against Air Raids. These advised the owner on what to do in the event of air attack. This evolved as the nature of warfare and geopolitics changed, with the leaflets concurrently updated into "Advising the Householder on Protection against Nuclear Attack" in 1963. The leaflets were accompanied by a series of public information films that, like Protect and Survive, would be broadcast in a state of emergency (they could be seen as a precursor). The leaflets were famously referred to in the controversial BBC Docudrama, The War Game in a scene where they were distributed to people's homes. Hence, these leaflets and public information films were an evolution and continuation of what preceded it, reflecting the state of warfare and geopolitics at the time of going to print.

[edit] Purposes

The purpose of the programme was to provide members of the British public with instructions on how to protect themselves and survive a nuclear attack. If such an attack had been deemed likely by the Government during any period of international crisis, a copy of the "Protect and Survive" booklet may have been distributed to every home in the UK, whilst the films were transmitted on domestic television. The booklets would also be re-printed in national newspapers. The booklet and the films detail a series of steps recommended to be undertaken by the citizens of the UK to improve their chances of survival during a nuclear attack, including: the recognition of the attack warning, fallout warning, all-clear signal; the preparation of a home "fallout room" (fallout shelter); and the preparation of suitable food, water, and other emergency supplies.

The films, narrated by the late actor Patrick Allen, were similar to the pamphlets, detailing the same instructions using voice-over narration, sound effects, and simple animation. All of the "Protect and Survive" public information films were produced by Richard Taylor Cartoons, which also created the well-known "Charley Says" films for the UK's Central Office of Information. They also produced the Crystal Tipps and Alistair childrens cartoons.

A collection of radio transmissions were also produced, differing slightly from the films in that the voice was not provided by Patrick Allen (rather, both a male and female voice), and in that some sentences were changed slightly. A broadcast of the radio version is shown in Threads, during a scene where the Becketts are making their fallout shelter on the morning of the attack. The Unknown male voice narrates, but ironically, Allen's voice is given by mistake in an earlier scene.

[edit] Social Impact

The "Protect and Survive" documents were simply designed, easy to understand, as one would expect, as they had evolved from already tried designs produced in the times of the Second World War. In the opinion of some contemporary critics, however, the films of the "Protect and Survive" series were deeply and surprisingly fatalistic in tone, with the advice being ridiculed by many press agencies; The Guardian saying: "...Protect and Survive, which was widely lampooned for its advice on whitewashing windows and 'resuming normal activities' a few days after the nuclear attack...". This created some impact upon the popular culture of the era: Raymond Briggs' graphic novel When the Wind Blows, later adapted as a film, radio and stage play, clearly hinted towards "Protect and Survive", and the BBC telefilm Threads featured two of the series' films: Action After Warnings and Casualties. Narrator Allen was also featured in certain early remixes of the song "Two Tribes" by the UK pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, saying "Mine is the last voice you will ever hear. Don't be alarmed." in a tone similar to that used by him in the PIFs. The leaflet series became the subject of detailed and scholarly criticism from anti-nuclear authors (such as E. P. Thompson), who produced Protest and Survive.

Rock band Jethro Tull recorded a song called "Protect And Survive" on the 1980 album, "A", also criticizing initiative.

The title of a song by the hardcore punk/D-beat band Discharge featured a play on words: Protest and Survive, a reference to E.P. Thompson's manifesto.

Heavy metal band Wolfsbane's self titled album contains a song called "Protect and Survive"

Alan Moore's landmark 1985 graphic novel, Watchmen, makes a reference to civil-defence pamphlets similar to the "Protect and Survive" pamphlets, including the oft-cited material on disposal of dead bodies, but it is unclear whether reasonably solid evidence can be found as to whether Moore was specifically referring to Protect and Survive.

It was also lampooned by television series The Young Ones in the episode "Bomb", though the Protect and Survive booklet does appear on-screen during the episode in question.

In the video game Fallout 2 intro, there was a parody of Protect and Survive information on what to do when leaving the shelters.

[edit] Quotes

  • "If anyone dies while you are kept in your fallout room, move the body to another room in the house. Label the body with name and address and cover it as tightly as possible in polythene, paper, sheets or blankets. Tie a second card to the covering. The radio will advise you what to do about taking the body away for burial. If however you have had a body in the house for more than five days, and if it is safe to go outside, then you should bury the body for the time being in a trench, or cover it with earth, and mark the spot of the burial. " (Casualties)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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