Do we have air raid sirens in the UK?
Discussion
Obviously Ukranian air raid sirens are frequently being referred to in the news at the moment, but also when I lived in France in the eighties, the sirens were tested weekly, and also used from time to time to call in volunteers to fight wildfires.
I've never heard one in the UK though. Do we have them and just never test them, or would we have to wait for Boris to commission Dyson or one of his other dodgy mates to knock some up in the event of a pending air attack?
I've never heard one in the UK though. Do we have them and just never test them, or would we have to wait for Boris to commission Dyson or one of his other dodgy mates to knock some up in the event of a pending air attack?
Kermit power said:
Obviously Ukranian air raid sirens are frequently being referred to in the news at the moment, but also when I lived in France in the eighties, the sirens were tested weekly, and also used from time to time to call in volunteers to fight wildfires.
I've never heard one in the UK though. Do we have them and just never test them, or would we have to wait for Boris to commission Dyson or one of his other dodgy mates to knock some up in the event of a pending air attack?
Can't speak for today, but in the 1960/70 period many rural towns and villages had auxiliary fire service members who worked locally most of the time in ordinary jobs. Come the hour of need the old WW2 air raid siren would sound and the auxiliaries would down tools and run to the fire station. The siren was on top of the local police station or fire station in my locale (Thames Valley).I've never heard one in the UK though. Do we have them and just never test them, or would we have to wait for Boris to commission Dyson or one of his other dodgy mates to knock some up in the event of a pending air attack?
Oddly enough I saw this on YouTube the other day
https://youtu.be/1yh10OtPAFo
So there's probably one somewhere.
But anyway, the important bit - WHAT would you do if you heard one?
Where would you go?
What's the point in having them if no precautions are in place?
I would expect to get an SMS nowadays, or maybe a leaflet through the door like we did about brexit?
https://youtu.be/1yh10OtPAFo
So there's probably one somewhere.
But anyway, the important bit - WHAT would you do if you heard one?
Where would you go?
What's the point in having them if no precautions are in place?
I would expect to get an SMS nowadays, or maybe a leaflet through the door like we did about brexit?
Back in 1982 a mate of mine woke up on a Sunday morning, very hungover, in quiet corner of Edinburgh to the wailing sound of an air raid siren.
He had no idea it was there an dived out of bed to see, to his horror, no cars, pedestrians or any other indication of life. This was long before mobile phones or the internet.
For 15 minutes or so, in his addled state (probably still a bit pissed from the night before), he genuinely thought a nuclear attack was imminent.
Me and my mates all grew up 30 mins from the local nuclear submarine base and knew our area would be one of the very first targeted and that most of Scotland's central belt would be wiped out. It was a genuine fear.
Anyway, I've no idea of these things still exist. That one could easily have been a leftover from WW2 rather than part of any nuclear defences. Although, back then they did still put out public information about sheltering under the stairs or under the kitchen table with mattresses piled up and plenty of drinking water........
He had no idea it was there an dived out of bed to see, to his horror, no cars, pedestrians or any other indication of life. This was long before mobile phones or the internet.
For 15 minutes or so, in his addled state (probably still a bit pissed from the night before), he genuinely thought a nuclear attack was imminent.
Me and my mates all grew up 30 mins from the local nuclear submarine base and knew our area would be one of the very first targeted and that most of Scotland's central belt would be wiped out. It was a genuine fear.
Anyway, I've no idea of these things still exist. That one could easily have been a leftover from WW2 rather than part of any nuclear defences. Although, back then they did still put out public information about sheltering under the stairs or under the kitchen table with mattresses piled up and plenty of drinking water........
Judging by the amount of people who ignore fire alarms in buildings they would do a fat load of good, I think in this country we rely on stuff like emergency push notifications to phones and the BBC.
Knowing us we would subcontract out the warning system and then find out it was installed wrong and doesn’t work.
When I worked at a power station we had weekly emergency alarm tests, that was a old air raid siren.
When I was at Hinkley it was the same sort of noise but provided by electronically sounders
Knowing us we would subcontract out the warning system and then find out it was installed wrong and doesn’t work.
When I worked at a power station we had weekly emergency alarm tests, that was a old air raid siren.
When I was at Hinkley it was the same sort of noise but provided by electronically sounders
We have one (used for various reasons) - tested every Weds at 11am. Funnily enough I was only thinking the other day that the tests have become much shorter - 1 to 2 seconds max. They used to turn it on for 5-10 seconds in the past. I assume recent events have made things a bit more "sensitive".
The actual air raid sirens in my local town were taken down in the early 90s.
Around the late 90s the last of the early warning alert systems which were run by BT were decommissioned so there was no easy way to turn the sirens on after that so 90% of them were either taken down or disabled after that.
Usually on town halls / police stations / library etc.
The actual air raid sirens in my local town were taken down in the early 90s.
Around the late 90s the last of the early warning alert systems which were run by BT were decommissioned so there was no easy way to turn the sirens on after that so 90% of them were either taken down or disabled after that.
Usually on town halls / police stations / library etc.
A relevant YouTube video about ww2 air raid sirens still operating in the UK.
https://youtu.be/WgaCNEQzL1Q
https://youtu.be/WgaCNEQzL1Q
Yup, we had one on the roof of my school when I was a kid.
Does anyone remember those grey boxes on the walls of hospital wards?
They had a speaker on them and a button. You would press the button and the speaker would make a ticking sound, getting a signal from "somewhere." The point being, if you pressed the button and no ticking was heard, we were under attack...
Does anyone remember those grey boxes on the walls of hospital wards?
They had a speaker on them and a button. You would press the button and the speaker would make a ticking sound, getting a signal from "somewhere." The point being, if you pressed the button and no ticking was heard, we were under attack...
Found it! HANDLE: https://www.subbrit.org.uk/features/cold-war-early...
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