Booklet Advising The Householder on Protection Against Nuclear Attack (HMSO) January 1963

Object/Artifact

Old Police Cells Museum Brighton

Booklet "Advising The Householder on Protection Against Nuclear Attack (HMSO) January 1963

Name/Title

Booklet "Advising The Householder on Protection Against Nuclear Attack" (HMSO) January 1963

Entry/Object ID

566

Description

Booklet. "Advising The Householder on Protection Against Nuclear Attack" (HMSO) Printed January 1963. Paperback with staple binding. 24pp. 130mm wide x 210mm high. Marked "R Harman" in ink on front cover.

Use

General advice to the public about protecting themselves in the event of a nuclear attack

Context

In the 1950s and 1960s during the 'Cold War" there was not only a fear of a nuclear war but a realistic belief that preparations could be made to protect against a nuclear strike. The police were expected to co-ordinate the civil response in the aftermath of a such a strike. Amongst other things they were trained to work in independent units called "Mobile Columns" and given some training to use protective equipment. This booklet whilst available to the general population appears to have been issued to individual officers, in this case PC Harman, who was a PC in East Sussex Constabulary and retired as an Inspector. It may be significant that this booklet was published in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, which is widely thought to be the closest that there came to being a nuclear confrontation throughout the Cold War.