Originally posted by GoneToTheCanner
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Originally posted by Bravo20 View PostDoes anyone remember the annual civil defence exercises that used to be shown on telly?
Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.
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Off topic slightly as this all relates to Norn Iron...
'When I were a lad'...I lived in the married quarters of an RUC Station.
Which was a house attached to an RUC Station...
Me and my brothers used to make a general nuisance of ourselves around the place.
In the 'Guardroom' there was amongst the phones, radios and Sterling SMG's a grey thing with a big switch and a speaker.
When you switched it on...as I often did...it made a blip...blip...blip noise continuously.
Apparently it was part of the infrastructure to detect and report a nuclear attack???
I also recall about two dozen hand cranked air raid sirens in one of the store rooms at the back of the station.
Again...story was they were to be issued in the event of the threat of nuclear war.
All sounds a bit fanciful I know...but my late Father was the local Sheriff (Station Sergeant) and he told me...
As another aside...for my Duke of Edinburghs Award Scheme community service I painted...
Our local Royal Observer Corps Nuclear Bomb Shelter
Changed times!!!'History is a vast early warning system'. Norman Cousins
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Originally posted by spider View PostOff topic slightly as this all relates to Norn Iron...
'When I were a lad'...I lived in the married quarters of an RUC Station.
Which was a house attached to an RUC Station...
Me and my brothers used to make a general nuisance of ourselves around the place.
In the 'Guardroom' there was amongst the phones, radios and Sterling SMG's a grey thing with a big switch and a speaker.
When you switched it on...as I often did...it made a blip...blip...blip noise continuously.
Apparently it was part of the infrastructure to detect and report a nuclear attack???
I also recall about two dozen hand cranked air raid sirens in one of the store rooms at the back of the station.
Again...story was they were to be issued in the event of the threat of nuclear war.
All sounds a bit fanciful I know...but my late Father was the local Sheriff (Station Sergeant) and he told me...
As another aside...for my Duke of Edinburghs Award Scheme community service I painted...
Our local Royal Observer Corps Nuclear Bomb Shelter
Changed times!!!
you mean this?
here it is in action, in probably the grimmest piece of cinema ever created:
Last edited by pym; 15 February 2013, 00:06.
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Originally posted by pym View Postbahahah!
you mean this?
here it is in action, in probably the grimmest piece of cinema ever created:
http://youtu.be/X9rh4CDj9SI?t=5m44s
I googled that bomb shelter I painted years ago...it's still intact...I must go and have a look at it.'History is a vast early warning system'. Norman Cousins
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Originally posted by spider View PostThats it...and that clip brings back some memories!
I googled that bomb shelter I painted years ago...it's still intact...I must go and have a look at it.
More info about HANDEL:
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Originally posted by pym View PostAs per the Dáil debate in my first post - It was leaked in the mid 80's that the Barracks in Athlone was linked to the same grey box system (HANDEL) - which certain people tried to exploit for political purposes, despite the fact it was sensible & mature for us to be linked: it was the only way there'd be a chance the authorities here could know that the warheads were inbound.
More info about HANDEL:
http://www.ringbell.co.uk/ukwmo/Page212.htm
I see photos of the sirens in your link.
Now I'm going to be hunting ebay for a WB400 Handel Unit!!
Re the ROC shelter...it was accessed via a very deep vertical shaft which led into the living / working area.
If my memory serves me correctly, there was a water tank of some sort near the top of the shaft, which would be filled with water in times of heightened threat. That was then the decontamination facility for anyone who had to venture outside. They were expected to take a photo of any blast and the subsequent mushroom cloud, then report its dimensions back to HQ.
I had a Saturday job labouring on the farm of a bloke who was in the ROC, sadly since deceased, thats how I ended up getting into it.
So sorry now that I didn't take some interior photos, but back then you just assumed those things were always going to be there.'History is a vast early warning system'. Norman Cousins
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Lots of those shelters / OP's in the UK, I saw on for sale on eBay a while ago. A chap I work with was in the Royal Observer Corps and used to spend days at a time locked up in them, any questions I can pick his brains.'He died who loved to live,' they'll say,
'Unselfishly so we might have today!'
Like hell! He fought because he had to fight;
He died that's all. It was his unlucky night.
http://www.salamanderoasis.org/poems...nnis/luck.html
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Originally posted by Flamingo View PostLots of those shelters / OP's in the UK, I saw on for sale on eBay a while ago. A chap I work with was in the Royal Observer Corps and used to spend days at a time locked up in them, any questions I can pick his brains.
They would seem to be a prime spot for vagrants, drunks & hoodlums - if unmanned for any length of time.
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I don't think so, they are mainly on private land, in pretty remote (high up) locations. I'll ask Pete next week.
This crowd have a lot of information about them; http://www.subbrit.org.uk/category/n...nitoring-postsLast edited by Flamingo; 16 February 2013, 23:00.'He died who loved to live,' they'll say,
'Unselfishly so we might have today!'
Like hell! He fought because he had to fight;
He died that's all. It was his unlucky night.
http://www.salamanderoasis.org/poems...nnis/luck.html
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The one I was aware of was in the corner of a field about a mile out of town...you wouldn't have known what it was.
All you could see was what looked like a raised manhole and a vent or two.
Looked a bit like a sewage facility. The hatch was well secured with a big hardened steel padlock.
I must try and get down to take some pictures soon...my Mum still lives nearby.'History is a vast early warning system'. Norman Cousins
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Look at the link in my post, it has a searchable map with pictures and discriptions of each location'He died who loved to live,' they'll say,
'Unselfishly so we might have today!'
Like hell! He fought because he had to fight;
He died that's all. It was his unlucky night.
http://www.salamanderoasis.org/poems...nnis/luck.html
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Cheers Flamingo...I think I've attached the photo from your link...
That paintings my handiworkAttached FilesLast edited by spider; 17 February 2013, 23:13.'History is a vast early warning system'. Norman Cousins
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Observer Corps flash
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