In the event of a nuclear attack during the cold war, the authoritative voice of the British broadcaster’s Wartime Broadcasting Service would have transmitted a list of advice every two hours. The idea was that people would have been reassured:-
“This country has been attacked with nuclear weapons. Communications have been severely disrupted, and the number of casualties and the extent of the damage are not yet known,” the message started.
Remember, there is nothing to be gained by trying to get away. By leaving your homes you could be exposing yourselves to greater danger… Radioactive fall-out, which followed a nuclear explosion, is many times more dangerous if you are directly exposed to it in the open. Stay tuned to this wavelength, stay calm and stay in your own homes.
Stay in your own homes, and if you live in an area where a fall-out warning has been given stay in your fall-out room, until you are told it is safe to come out.
The message that the immediate danger has passed will be given by the sirens and repeated on this wavelength. Make sure that the gas and all fuel supplies are turned off and that all fires are extinguished.
Water must be rationed, and used only for essential drinking and cooking purposes. It must not be used for flushing lavatories. Ration your food supply: it may have to last for 14 days or more.
We shall repeat this broadcast in two hours’ time. Stay tuned to this wavelength, but switch your radios off now to save your batteries until we come on the air again.
That is the end of this broadcast.”