Cold War Memories

[Sad Sprinter]

My mum often recalls feeling terrified when they used to test the air-raid sirens during the Cold War for the "four minuite warning". My aunt who grew up towards the end of the Cold War recalls similar fears. For someone who was born in the 90s after the Cold War, what are your memories of living through the Cold War?

 

[70014IronDuke]

My mum often recalls feeling terrified when they used to test the air-raid sirens during the Cold War for the "four minuite warning". My aunt who grew up towards the end of the Cold War recalls similar fears. For someone who was born in the 90s after the Cold War, what are your memories of living through the Cold War?

Are we talking UK here?
Well, I suppose they may have done such tests in the early 50s, but I can't ever remember any such air-raid siren tests when I was compis mentis from about 1957.

I'd say you mum might have confused the sirens - after about 1968 they were probably being sounded because Milwall or Chelsea were playing in town.
And I'm afraid your aunt must have been taking something she shouldn't have. There were no such siren tests normally in the 1980s.

 

[EM2]

I certainly don't recall any, and I was born in 1969.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

Are we talking UK here?
Well, I suppose they may have done such tests in the early 50s, but I can't ever remember any such air-raid siren tests when I was compis mentis from about 1957.

I'd say you mum might have confused the sirens - after about 1968 they were probably being sounded because Milwall or Chelsea were playing in town.
And I'm afraid your aunt must have been taking something she shouldn't have. There were no such siren tests normally in the 1980s.

There definetely was, at least in London. Have a look at this site: http://www.ringbell.co.uk/ukwmo/Page211.htm

 

[Darandio]

There definetely was, at least in London. Have a look at this site: http://www.ringbell.co.uk/ukwmo/Page211.htm

Although very comprehensive and interesting, I don't really see anything there that suggests the sirens were tested, certainly not in the time period suggested.

 

[GusB]

It would have been the 80s before I was fully aware what the Cold War was, but I don't think it ever really worried me. I recall seeing When the Wind Blows and thinking it was a sad story, but it didn't really impact on me until much later on in life. I don't ever recall hearing air-raid sirens, though. I think it has been removed from YouTube now for copyright infringement, but I watched Threads for the first time just a couple of years ago, along with the Panorama(?) discussion that followed, and it was quite sobering.

I also recall that there was a cartoon drawn on the back wall of our modern studies classroom depicting the world with a big hole where the UK was supposed to be, and the heads of the American and USSR presidents either side, with the caption "Oops!"

I live between what was two RAF bases, so I think it's fair to say that had WW3 broken out, we'd have been toast fairly quickly.

 

[70014IronDuke]

IT is possible, I suppose, that sirens were tested at a pre-announced time. This might have occurred about once a decade, and was so scary I can't remember it at all.

"For someone who was born in the 90s after the Cold War, what are your memories of living through the Cold War?"

That is different, and could be the subject of an entire forum. For many folks, it probably passed them by altogether. I mean, you don't think folks went to the Cavern Club in 1962 to listen to the Beatles thinking: "Oh, we'd better enjoy this, the Russians might be here in a week," do you? (well, at least not consciously.)

For anyone in the forces, it would have been a different matter. As someone who lived, for a time as a teenager, near a base where three Vulcan V-bombers were sometimes kept on 24-hour alert, I was certainly aware of "a" threat.

But as for sirens - are you sure you have not misunderstood the time period (could it have been WW2 - now that would have been different) or mum/aunt has not mixed up memories?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I'm pretty sure I do recall siren tests in the first half of the 1970s.

Never really felt frightened or anything during the Cold War; I went to boarding school not far from Greenham Common and we would often see the cruise missile convoys on exercise driving along the A34 past the school grounds. More often than not we were interested in watching them go past rather than running away to hide.

Certainly didn't feel worried about being in close proximity to the base.

 

[Busaholic]

I can't give a precise date, but sometime in the period 1981-1988 when I was living in Blackheath, S.E. London, on a Saturday morning around 9 a.m. the air raid siren situated, I believe, somewhere in the Woolwich area sounded for about 30 seconds. I went outside (don't quite no why, but still!) to find absolutely no panic whatever and really no acknowledgment that it had happened. About an hour later in Lewisham town centre I was at a bus stop waiting for a bus back to Blackheath when a most strange vehicle in army colours came trundling past, going in the Woolwich direction. It was very long, in sections but not, apparently, articulated, and its width varied in the different sections, which all appeared to be armoured. It went past, and that was it: I think there was a paragraph in the local rag the following week to say it had been a false alarm (phew). In the 1990s I had moved to Cornwall and became acquainted with a local man who had lived in London for many years, during which time he had become a GLC councillor for Islington, and had had had responsibility for civil defence matters. He still did freelance work and, to my astonishment, on the BBC Ten o Clock News one night he presented an item on London and civil defence in the pre-Millennium age. The next time I saw him I told him of my experience but he could throw no further light on it, and had no idea of what the vehicle I'd seen could have been : by this time the GLC was long gone, of course, murdered by Mrs Thatcher.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

IT is possible, I suppose, that sirens were tested at a pre-announced time. This might have occurred about once a decade, and was so scary I can't remember it at all.

"For someone who was born in the 90s after the Cold War, what are your memories of living through the Cold War?"

That is different, and could be the subject of an entire forum. For many folks, it probably passed them by altogether. I mean, you don't think folks went to the Cavern Club in 1962 to listen to the Beatles thinking: "Oh, we'd better enjoy this, the Russians might be here in a week," do you? (well, at least not consciously.)

For anyone in the forces, it would have been a different matter. As someone who lived, for a time as a teenager, near a base where three Vulcan V-bombers were sometimes kept on 24-hour alert, I was certainly aware of "a" threat.

But as for sirens - are you sure you have not misunderstood the time period (could it have been WW2 - now that would have been different) or mum/aunt has not mixed up memories?

I don't think it was quite as obvious as that. I think it must have been like the lead singer of "The Jam" described it as an "underlying fear in everyone's eyes"-at least in the 80s. I don't think people stopped their everyday lives because they thought the bomb would come, but perhaps it was always on the back on people's minds.

In regards to sirens, perhaps it depended on the area. Perhaps in London they doubled up as flood warning tests before the Thames barrier was built. I'll ask around some more about it.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

I can't give a precise date, but sometime in the period 1981-1988 when I was living in Blackheath, S.E. London, on a Saturday morning around 9 a.m. the air raid siren situated, I believe, somewhere in the Woolwich area sounded for about 30 seconds. I went outside (don't quite no why, but still!) to find absolutely no panic whatever and really no acknowledgment that it had happened. About an hour later in Lewisham town centre I was at a bus stop waiting for a bus back to Blackheath when a most strange vehicle in army colours came trundling past, going in the Woolwich direction. It was very long, in sections but not, apparently, articulated, and its width varied in the different sections, which all appeared to be armoured. It went past, and that was it: I think there was a paragraph in the local rag the following week to say it had been a false alarm (phew). In the 1990s I had moved to Cornwall and became acquainted with a local man who had lived in London for many years, during which time he had become a GLC councillor for Islington, and had had had responsibility for civil defence matters. He still did freelance work and, to my astonishment, on the BBC Ten o Clock News one night he presented an item on London and civil defence in the pre-Millennium age. The next time I saw him I told him of my experience but he could throw no further light on it, and had no idea of what the vehicle I'd seen could have been : by this time the GLC was long gone, of course, murdered by Mrs Thatcher.

Wow, how sinister. I wonder what was going on, perhaps it was a coincidence that the vehicle was moving the same time as the siren sounded. Or perhaps he wasn't allowed to say?

 

[Ash Bridge]

My mum often recalls feeling terrified when they used to test the air-raid sirens during the Cold War for the "four minuite warning". My aunt who grew up towards the end of the Cold War recalls similar fears. For someone who was born in the 90s after the Cold War, what are your memories of living through the Cold War?

This is interesting, because as a youngster i can recall sirens being tested around these parts on what seemed like an annual basis, I don't recall the exact period but at a rough guess I would say mid 60s to early 70s, as a youngster I do recall questioning the reason for this at the time because if memory serves correct it was a particular day of the year when this occurred and all the cotton mills and factories around here seemed to sound their former WW2 sirens at different times on the same day, my mum is 80 so tomorrow I'll have a word with her and see if she can enlighten us on this.

 

[yorksrob]

I don't recall any sirens being tested, but I remember seeing one attached to the telegraph pole at the end of my street. I remember seeing it at the time in the 1980's and 90's but not realising what it was, then realising later. I have visited the same street since and the telegraph pole is still there but not the siren.

My parents lived through the cold war and they recollect real fear as to whether they would survive at the time of the Cuban missile crisis.

 

[Ash Bridge]

I don't recall any sirens being tested, but I remember seeing one attached to the telegraph pole at the end of my street. I remember seeing it at the time but not realising what it was, then realising later. I have visited the same street and the telegraph pole is still there but not the siren.

My parents lived through the cold war and they recollect real fear as to whether they would survive at the time of the Cuban missile crisis.

Was this one of these circular shaped contraptions Rob? Most of the mills and factories around here seemed to have them installed on their former WW2 lookout towers as late as the early 70s when I was a youngster, one of these lookouts still exists above a former mill close to the bottom of the avenue where we reside although now minus the siren.

 

[yorksrob]

Was this one of these circular shaped contraptions Rob? Most of the mills and factories around here seemed to have them installed on their former WW2 lookout towers as late as the early 70s when I was a youngster, one of these lookouts still exists above a former mill close to the bottom of the avenue where we reside although now minus the siren.

As I recall, it was at the top of the pole and had two circular things, one either side. A bit like motors.

 

[Ash Bridge]

As I recall, it was at the top of the pole and had two circular things, one either side. A bit like motors.

Yep, that sounds exactly as I remember, I'm quite intrigued by this thread, I'll see what my mother can remember about this when I see her tomorrow.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

Yep, that sounds exactly as I remember, I'm quite intrigued by this thread, I'll see what my mother can remember about this when I see her tomorrow.

Found this rather intimidating picture of one, I don't think I'd ever want to be that close to one: http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/sirens/006ba6e0.jpg

 

[RichmondCommu]

This is slightly off topic but.....

My uncle Peter spent the vast majority of his working life working for GCHQ in Cheltenham. However he was seconded to Moscow for a few years working in the British Embassy and for a period of time at an old RAF airbase at Digby in Lincolnshire along with a spell in the early 1960s in Cyprus. Essentially his job was to help monitor communications within the Russian Navy and in particular its submarine fleet. Peter is my dads brother in-law and for some time after Peter joined our family no one really knew what Peter did. At the height of the Cold War Peter was told by his bosses to be very careful what he said. Peter is now in his early 80s and is great company!

 

[yorksrob]

Found this rather intimidating picture of one, I don't think I'd ever want to be that close to one: http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/sirens/006ba6e0.jpg

Yes, that's the sort of thing, but of course it looked much smaller at the top of the pole.

 

[Ash Bridge]

Found this rather intimidating picture of one, I don't think I'd ever want to be that close to one: http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/sirens/006ba6e0.jpg

That's exactly like the ones I remember, and I'm sure it would produce the same sound as that heard at the end of the BBCs Dads Army episodes from the early 70s

This is slightly off topic but.....

My uncle Peter spent the vast majority of his working life working for GCHQ in Cheltenham. However he was seconded to Moscow for a few years working in the British Embassy and for a period of time at an old RAF airbase at Digby in Lincolnshire along with a spell in the early 1960s in Cyprus. Essentially his job was to help monitor communications within the Russian Navy and in particular its submarine fleet. Peter is my dads brother in-law and for some time after Peter joined our family no one really knew what Peter did. At the height of the Cold War Peter was told by his bosses to be very careful what he said. Peter is now in his early 80s and is great company!

I'll bet your uncle has many an interesting tale to tell, Official Secrets Act permitting of course!

 

[GusB]

For anyone in the forces, it would have been a different matter. As someone who lived, for a time as a teenager, near a base where three Vulcan V-bombers were sometimes kept on 24-hour alert, I was certainly aware of "a" threat.

There's a guy who drinks in my local who was a navigator in the RAF, and he did a spell on the Vulcans. I remember him saying that he hoped they never ever get "the call", as it meant that there would probably be nothing to come back to - if they made it back.

I've seen a few documentaries in which similar things were said, but to hear it first-hand made it slightly more chilling. It must have been a hell of a burden knowing that your job was to go and cause death and destruction on a massive scale, should the need arise.

 

[najaB]

It must have been a hell of a burden knowing that your job was to go and cause death and destruction on a massive scale, should the need arise.

Of course, by being ready to go do that job they would, so the theory goes, prevent the need for them to ever to their job - and in so doing, did their job of keeping us safe.

 

[yorksrob]

For those interested in the period, Peter Hennesey's "The Secret State" is a fascinating book worth reading.

 

[tsr]

Certain members of my family have spoken of being aware of sirens being present (not necessarily tested) in the 1970s and 80s. This would have been South-East London and Home Counties.

 

[Calthrop]

I don't think it was quite as obvious as that. I think it must have been like the lead singer of "The Jam" described it as an "underlying fear in everyone's eyes"-at least in the 80s. I don't think people stopped their everyday lives because they thought the bomb would come, but perhaps it was always on the back on people's minds.

Tht's what people do -- or don't do -- in anxiety-arousing times; for as much of the time as possible, they put the stuff to the back of their minds and get on with life as normal, choosing to assume that they'll live a normal life-span without a disastrous end, of a sort characteristic of the current situation. It's the only way that they find, of staying sane.

My parents lived through the cold war and they recollect real fear as to whether they would survive at the time of the Cuban missile crisis.

At the time of the Cuba crisis, when I was fourteen; as well as feeling decidedly worried for some days, I had a reaction rather in the “railway enthusiasts are past praying for” league: I became for a while, strongly curious about the railways of Cuba – a place which I’d barely heard of previously. The atlas showed it as a big island with a fairish rail system; my juvenile imagination, with no source of actual facts, painted it as chock-full of a large assortment of active steam locos, ranging from ancient to modern and likely largely US-built. It seemed very regrettable that something so magnificent, might last only a few more days...

The crisis passed over, and in time my interest in Cuba waned – no way then that I could find, of getting the desired info. (For the biggest nearby catchment area of railfans, the USA: visiting Cuba during the 1960s would of course have been next-to-impossible.) It was only some ten years later, that reports started coming out; whereby we learned that – what with Cuba having pre-1959, been pretty well de facto a 51st state of the US – the public State Railways had gone all-diesel prior to Castro’s revolution. The huge and varied steam fleet was of course on the sugar railways; thus active only a few months of the year.

 

[yorksrob]

At the time of the Cuba crisis, when I was fourteen; as well as feeling decidedly worried for some days, I had a reaction rather in the “railway enthusiasts are past praying for” league: I became for a while, strongly curious about the railways of Cuba – a place which I’d barely heard of previously. The atlas showed it as a big island with a fairish rail system; my juvenile imagination, with no source of actual facts, painted it as chock-full of a large assortment of active steam locos, ranging from ancient to modern and likely largely US-built. It seemed very regrettable that something so magnificent, might last only a few more days...

The crisis passed over, and in time my interest in Cuba waned – no way then that I could find, of getting the desired info. (For the biggest nearby catchment area of railfans, the USA: visiting Cuba during the 1960s would of course have been next-to-impossible.) It was only some ten years later, that reports started coming out; whereby we learned that – what with Cuba having pre-1959, been pretty well de facto a 51st state of the US – the public State Railways had gone all-diesel prior to Castro’s revolution. The huge and varied steam fleet was of course on the sugar railways; thus active only a few months of the year.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that Cuba somehow managed to obtain a small fleet of class 47-a-likes. Quite how I don't know, as I assume the island would have been embargoed when they were in production !

 

[MarlowDonkey]

I seem to recall reading somewhere that Cuba somehow managed to obtain a small fleet of class 47-a-likes. Quite how I don't know, as I assume the island would have been embargoed when they were in production !

The UK was never part of the embargo. Much to the displeasure of the US, the government of Harold Wilson arranged to sell them Leyland buses.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jcgxk

 

[beeza1]

I can remember there being a siren on the local fire station, this was used to "call out" the local retained firemen working in the local mills and factories, ( now sadly all gone), no mobile phones or bleepers in those days.
The local pub was also the Civil Defence point, and had a hand cranked siren in the cellar, one afternoon (alcohol fuelled no doubt), we cranked it up, what a racket !

 

[yorksrob]

The UK was never part of the embargo. Much to the displeasure of the US, the government of Harold Wilson arranged to sell them Leyland buses.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jcgxk

Ah, well that might explain it.

 

[yorksrob]

The local pub was also the Civil Defence point, and had a hand cranked siren in the cellar, one afternoon (alcohol fuelled no doubt), we cranked it up, what a racket !

I wonder how many of these are left around the place !