Recently this picture has caused much mirth among the blogs, but as cold war civil defence is one of my hobbies I feel bound to give an explanation. This was one of a chain of 8 top secret nuclear bunkers from which government would operate in the event of a nuclear holocaust round the country. It is now of course a museum.
It is the tip of the iceberg: for the reality was that in the 1980's we were extremely close to nuclear war: some KGB defectors testify that the Kremlin was getting ready for a pre - emptive nuclear strike from the west. Extensive preparations were being made: some of you may remember the Protect and Survive leaflets, advising what to do in the event of nuclear attack. This did not happen, thanks to none other than Our Lady's intercession!
Right around the countryside are ordinary looking raised manholes to what were shelters used for measuring fallout. These grey speakers below that you might have seen in public buildings as well as the sirens in fire stations existed to warn the population of impending doom. I could rabbit on for ever, but here is a website giving more information: www.ringbell.co.uk
3 comments:
:-D glad to find this was a real sign then. I don't think the threat was in reality that serious from what I've read. Although there were defectors who had been fed the standard propaganda re the west, there were ploaces inside the soviet Union that had a more realistic view of the reality. The reality is and was that the US had no plans for a preemptive strike against them and they eventually realized it. It would have taken a first strike for them to unleash a retaliation.
They don't always believe the BS they feed to their own people.
Karen
There is one of those up here too; I toured it with a friend. It was a chilling and eerie experience.
Of course the west did not plan to attack the Soviet Union: but in pre - glasnost days the Kremlin was paranoid about the Reagan administration.
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