Underground World of Concrete Chambers
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The first assessment of the situation must come from the man on the spot—the warden. At the warden's sector post, information is recorded on wall maps and relayed immediately to local headquarters. The. local wardens are the men who will be available in emergency to advise the public, and many more are needed to make the organisation function smoothly. The County Training Officer, Mr. E. H. Cooper, emphasised that training is done in stages so that in spite of scientific complications, at no point is it beyond the intelligence of the average man. In the picture are Len Cherry (Rushden), Frank Eady (Rushden) and R. T. Newell (Higham Ferrers).
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THIS IS A WORD PICTURE OF WHAT MIGHT BE—AND WE HOPE NEVER WILL BE. THIS IS AN IDEA OF WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN IF OUR LOCAL WORLD WAS TURNED TO CHAOS. THE BEWILDERED THOUSANDS WOULD WE HOPING—AND PRAYING—THAT AMID ALL THE CONFUSION SOMEONE SOMEWHERE WOULD BE IN A POSITION COOLLY TO ASSESS THE POSITION, ACT RATIONALLY ACCORDING TO A PRE-ARRANGED PLAN AND DO SOMETHING.
There would be someone. They would be the dedicated Civil Defence officers who, though their service has been much maligned, have kept faith and studied, week after week, year after year, in the constant hope that their services will never be required.
Deep below Wellingborough Fire Station is a subterranean world of concrete chambers. If is upon the efficiency of the people who would work—and even live—in these bunkers that all our lives would depend if nuclear warfare broke out.
How prepared are they? A reporter and photographer went below ground to find out for themselves.
Wellingborough's control centre has its own highly-trained "boffins"—all with scientific degrees—planners, co-ordinators, signallers, all of whom know what they would do on the day of nuclear Armageddon. It works like this:
In the world above there was chaos. Following a state of world tension a ten megaton bomb had burst at Birmingham, spreading its deadly radiation in a general South-East direction.
To make matters worse, a 500 kiloton bomb dropped over Irchester had burst in the air, devastating much of Wellingborough and Rushden but not presenting fall-out to a fatal degree.
Here was a problem for the Scientific Intelligence Officers, all with scientific back grounds. Before anything practical could be done they must be in a position to sit calmly doing their mathematics.
Waiting
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The talc overlay has been completed by the "boffins". It is now placed over the Controller's map, which has already been marked up with all the information he has received from many sources, including the special mobile reconnaissance units. Now, with the dose rate lines superimposed, he cart decide how far his teams can advance towards the heart of the damaged area. Left to right are: P. Sturgess (Rushden), C. J. Leading (Rushden), L. G. Allen (Brixworth) and Peter Leach (Rushden).
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Contrary to most, people's belief, everything had not abruptly ended on the surface. Those who had followed the instructions given out over the radio had stayed in their homes, cellars or home-made shelters and—if these survived, the blast—were safe. But it was fatal to go out into the open.
They were waiting, among the wreckage, with what patience they could muster.
At this point the cold hard assessment had to be made. Relief teams could not be sent towards the worst affected areas if the workers would collapse before they arrived. It would be an impossible—and impractical—task to order a man to sacrifice himself in well-meaning but totally ineffectual rescue work. .
Surviving wardens in the strong points in the affected areas reported the situation— and stayed put. Observer posts had sent in their reports
Rendezvous
In "clean" areas troops of rescue workers were collecting at rendezvous points.
Beneath the Fire Station the troglodyte planners received then reports by radio and wire from local wardens and distant headquarters.
One after another reconnaissance teams were sent out towards the radiation barrier of no return, sending back reports of their geiger counter readings by portable transmitter.
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In the well-equipped signals station, GPO line, emergency land line and radio are all used to receive information which will eventually build up the complete and vital picture. The Signals Officer, Mr. D. A. Pinnell, has had extensive training to equip him for this job. Operating the radio is Mrs. B. Gatehouse (Brixworth).
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Every move had to be controlled by the scientific officers. From their reports they advised the controller in which direction he could safely send his men. Radioactivity readings were recorded in chinograph pencils on the talc overlaying a giant map of the area.
But radio-activity takes time to reach an area and decrease with time. Only a scientifically-trained mind can with the aid of simple computers, interpret the figures in terms of an ever-changing present, but there comes a moment when, with most, of the map covered with figures, it is possible to draw in a line—like the contour line on a map—and say that it is now possible for the rescue teams to go in and work up to the 10 Roentgens per hour line where workers can stand the radiation for eight hours—and survive.
It is possible to say that specialist teams can go further ahead and come out in a much shorter time for a rest in "clean" atmosphere.
It is possible to see how the radiation is moving and anticipate that in two hours' time rescue workers can work to a line nearer the centre of the incident.....
At this point it is practical to transfer the over-lay to the map of the controller who has been rallying his forces and preparing for this moment of truth.
Now it is safe for coaches to enter the area and evacuate the surviving populace en masse. If they have stayed in their homes they will have suffered a radiation dose which will not have a permanent effect.
They must be evacuated — and billeted. That is the point of another exercise.
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