A
Civil Defence Exercise believed to be from 1953/4.
Norwich Civil Defence Exercise
A
couple of clips from a film made by Norwich City Council for their
Civic Week in 1955, showing a part of a Civil Defence Corps Exercise.
The Rescue and Ambulance Sections only are shown.
700 Practice Civil Defence
Newsreel
film of a large exercise, probably from the mid 1960s, and shot at the
Home Office training ground at Bully Fen, which later became part of
the London 2012 Olympic Park.
Rescue & Relief
1963 newsreel footage of a Civil
Defence Corps training exercise, made at the Home Office training
ground at Epsom in Surrey. The webmaster was one of the casualties
on this exercise, and it sparked his interest in joining the Civil
Defence Corps, which he did the following year.
The Warden
and the Householder
A
Civil Defence Corps training film for the Warden Section of the Corps,
made in 1961 by the UK Home Office. Includes archive footage of
Hiroshima.
Civil Defence in Action - The Rest
Centre
A
1962 training film made by the Middlesex Division of the Civil Defence
Corps, showing the Welfare Section running a Rest Centre, such
as would be set up in time of war. Amongst the personnel, in addition
to regular Corps members are members of the Womens Voluntary Service
(WVS), and volunteers wearing arm bands rather than uniforms, these
latter were to have been recruited in the last days leading up to war.
Civil Defence Bulletins Nos. 1-7 and
introduction.
In
the early 1960s this series of short Civil Defence Bulletins was made,
but not broadcast. It was the intention of the government to show
these films during the lead-up to any threatened nuclear war. The
Civil Defence Corps was shown the films in the format you see here.
The booklet 'Advising the Householder on Protection Against Nuclear
Attack' (see below) was a short training document for the civil
defence organisations, it was not intended for general publication,
but was available through Her Majesty's Stationery Office. I saw this
format in 1964/65 as part of my training in the Civil Defence Corps.
Despite various suggestions I have seen, there was no part 8!
The Waking Point
A
1951 Civil Defence recruitment film: Joe Mercer, played by John
Slater, leaves a cinema showing a film on the horrors of communism
and is accosted by a Civil Defence Corps recruiter in the foyer. He
claims he hasn't got the time and in any case he did it all "the
last time". Later his son gets trapped in a tunnel in the old quarry
and is rescued with the help of the local Civil Defence training
unit. The next local civil defence meeting now includes Slater -
various training activities are shown. Slater is offered a full-time
position as a rescue training officer and is despatched to the Civil
Defence School at Easingwold, Yorkshire. After a day's hard training
he falls asleep in his room and dreams that the war has started,
with a mass of panicking, untrained civilians fighting to reach air
raid shelters. He wakes up to find that, "It hasn't happened - there
is still time." The film was shown with other shorts at the Cannes
Film Festival, the US authorities were sufficiently impressed to
ensure that it was also shown in the USA.
A
Civil Defence Corps recruitment film made by the Wanstead and Woodford
Civil Defence Committee in 1953/4. Local Civil Defence Authorities
were permitted to make their own recruitment films, throughout their
existence. Few did so apparently. Although some of the badges are pre
1953, the film refers to the East Coast floods that occurred in
January 1953.
Selection
of amateur film clips of Civil Defence Rescue Section training at
Catterick Army Camp in 1960/1.
The Warden his Duties and Training
1961 training film for the Warden
Section of the Civil Defence Corps.
Civil Defence in
Action - Headquarters Section
A
1962 training film made by the Middlesex Division of the Civil Defence
Corps, showing how the section and its sub-sections would work in the
event of nuclear attack.
Care of the
Homeless
1965 training film for the Welfare
Section of the Civil Defence Corps, based on the response to a 2
megaton device exploded in the region of Bristol, and based on a
Rest Centre in Bath. The WVS (Women's Voluntary Service) take a
prominent role, note some of the women wearing a different badge,
the WVS continues as the WRVS even today), some people who would
have been emergency recruits in the last few days leading up to the
start of the war can be identified by their armbands.
