Protect and Survive was a British public information campaign concerning civil defence measures. Produced by the British government between 1974 and 1976, it intended to advise the public on how to protect themselves during a nuclear attack. Had it been activated, the campaign would have comprised a pamphlet, newspaper inserts, public information films, and radio broadcasts.
Originally, the campaign was only intended to be disseminated if it was felt that war with (and thus nuclear attack by) the Soviet Union was increasingly likely, but the matter provoked such intense public interest that the pamphlet element of Protect and Survive was published, in slightly amended form, in 1980. Due to its controversial subject, and the nature of its publication, the cultural impact of Protect and Survive was greater and longer-lasting than most public information campaigns and it has remained "among the best-known cultural artefacts of nuclear preparedness", albeit one that "will always be remembered as an unmitigated [public relations] disaster."
Origins Protect and Survive had its origins in civil defence leaflets dating back to 1938, titled The Protection of Your Home Against Air Raids. These advised the homeowner on what to do in the event of air attack. This evolved as the nature of warfare and geopolitics changed, with the pamphlets updated first into The Hydrogen Bomb in 1957, and later into Advising the Householder on Protection against Nuclear Attack in 1963. This document, of which 500,000 copies were made, was primarily intended for use by public servants and volunteers trying to advise their local communities on pre-attack measures. Advising the Householder garnered considerable public and government criticism when it was first released for its lack of explanations or conveyance of the reasoning behind the advice that was given. The Estimates Committee were similarly bemused by the advice, calling for its withdrawal. Civil defence personnel were summoned to House of Commons meetings in which they responded to all the points of criticism that were raised.
Much of the advice given in Advising the Householder, such as stockpiling fourteen days' worth of food and whitewashing one's windows to counter the heat wave from a nuclear blast, was similar to that given in the later Protect and Survive pamphlet. The 1963 pamphlet was then accompanied by a series of public information films produced in 1964, called Civil Defence Information Bulletins. These films were intended to be broadcast in a state of emergency. Pamphlets similar to those prepared in 1963 briefly appeared in Peter Watkins' controversial 1965 BBC pseudo-documentary The War Game, in a scene where they were distributed to people's homes.
The fallout radiation advice in Protect and Survive was based on 1960s fallout shelter experiments summarised by Daniel T. Jones of the Home Office Scientific Advisory Branch in his report, The Protection Against Fallout Radiation Afforded by Core Shelters in a Typical British House which was published in Protective Structures for Civilian Populations, Proceedings of the Symposium held at Washington, D.C., 19–23 April 1965, by the Subcommittee on Protective Structures, Advisory Committee on Civil Defense, US National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council. The fallout radiation was represented by measurements of the penetration of cobalt-60 gamma radiation, which has a high mean energy of 1.25 MeV (two gamma rays, 1.17 and 1.33 MeV). This is considerably more penetrating than the mean 0.7 MeV of fallout gamma rays. Therefore, the actual protection given against real nuclear weapon fallout would be far greater than that afforded in the peacetime cobalt-60 shielding measurements.
During the early 1970s, the BBC and the Home Office produced a radio script advising the public of what to do in the event of nuclear attack. This was eventually published in October 2008 on the BBC's website, with related correspondence made available to the public via The National Archives. The script used very similar language and style to the later Protect and Survive series. In particular, it emphasised the need for citizens to remain in their homes, and not to try to evacuate elsewhere.
Campaign The purpose of the Protect and Survive scheme was to provide members of the British public with instructions, primarily via broadcast media, on how to protect themselves and survive a nuclear attack. The broadcasts were to be supplemented by a pamphlet which was to act as an aide-memoire for householders; despite the pamphlet's later prominence in British culture, the campaign was originally conceived as being broadcast-led, with the pamphlet being confirmed later.
Basic advice The following advice was common to all components of the campaign, but is presented here according to the ordering contained in the pamphlet.
Nuclear weapon effects
It was explained that everything within a certain radius of a nuclear explosion would be destroyed, and that the heat and blast effects would be extremely destructive for the first five miles and could still cause severe damage beyond this. The formation of and risk from radioactive fallout was also explained.
Household shelters The advice on preparing a shelter at home caused much of Protect and Survive'''s later infamy. The campaign aimed to convince people of the importance of staying at home instead of self-evacuating elsewhere on the basis that one's local authority would offer the best help. It then sought to explain how best to prepare one's home for use as a post-attack shelter centred around a "fallout room" intended for fourteen days' use. Ideally, a cellar or basement would be used as the fallout room; if not, householders were to use a ground-floor area which was as far away from the roof and outside walls (or at least had the smallest amount of outside wall) as possible. To reduce the risk from radiation, windows and other openings were to be blocked up and the floor and outside walls made thicker; bricks, concrete blocks, timber, boxes of earth or sand, books, and furniture were recommended as examples of the thick and dense materials to be used.
Once the basic fallout room had been prepared, it was to be followed by an inner refuge for additional protection during the first forty-eight hours following an attack. Recommendations included: Making a lean-to from strong boarding or from doors taken from upper rooms (with some wood fixed to the floor to secure the construction) which was then reinforced with bags or boxes containing earth, sand, books, or even clothing, and the two open ends partly walled in with similar boxes or with heavy furniture Using a sufficiently large table or tables, to be surrounded and covered with heavy furniture filled with sand, earth, books, or clothing Reinforcing the stair cupboard with bags of sand or earth on the stairs and along the wall of the cupboard (as well as any adjacent outside wall)
This advice being geared towards suburban and similar housing, the suitability of other types of housing stock was assessed. Those living in a block of flats were to avoid the top two floors and make alternative shelter arrangements if the building was five storeys high or more; if the building was up to four storeys high, sheltering in the basement or the ground floor was recommended as giving the "best" protection, while the central corridors of lower floors were noted as offering "good" protection. Single-storey homes such as bungalows were described as ill-suited for shelter purposes; if a shelter had to be made in such a building, householders were to select a place that was furthest away from the roof and outside walls as described earlier. Those living in caravans or other accommodation that would offer little to no protection against fallout were to seek advice from their local authority.
Provisions Provisions within the fallout room were to be sufficient to last the prescribed fourteen days. It was recommended to stock three and a half gallons of drinking water per person, and to then double this amount (for a total of seven gallons per person) to have sufficient provision for washing (a family of four could thus be expected to keep twenty-eight gallons on hand). The water was to be bottled for immediate use in the fallout room, with additional supplies to be contained in the bath, basins, and other containers, and all of this sealed or covered against fallout.
The fallout room was to be stocked with foods which could be "eaten cold, which keep fresh, and which are tinned or well wrapped", and which were to be kept in a closed cabinet or cupboard; it was recommended to maintain a variety of foods including sugar, jams, and other sweet foods, cereals, biscuits, meats, vegetables, and fruits and fruit juices (with said juices ideally being in tins according to the "Water and Food" film). Children would need tinned or powdered milk and babies "their normal food as far as is possible." These provisions were to be accompanied by tin and bottle openers, cutlery, and crockery. Perishable foods were to be eaten first. In the "Food Consumption" film, it was stated that only minimal eating was needed since householders would normally be resting under shelter; those reading the pamphlet were merely told to eat sparingly. Whether people would have been able to acquire fourteen days' worth of provisions if the Protect and Survive advice had been issued for real was disputed at official level, Cited in Also cited in let alone unofficially.
A battery-powered radio would have been essential for receiving outside messages, and it was recommended to take a spare radio as well as plenty of batteries; aerials were not to be extended until an attack was concluded to avoid electromagnetic pulse damage. The basic "survival kit" was rounded off with stocks of warm clothing and a copy of the Protect and Survive pamphlet. In terms of additional provisions, the following items were all described as useful: Bedding and sleeping bags Saucepans and portable stoves with fuel Torches with spare bulbs and batteries, candles, and matches A table with chairs Toilet articles, soap, toilet rolls, buckets, and plastic bags (see also the following section on sanitation) Changes of basic clothing A first aid kit and medicines Sand, cloths, or tissues for wiping down plates and utensils A notebook and pencils for writing messages Brushes, shovels, cleaning materials, rubber or plastic gloves, and a dustpan and brush Toys and magazines; books A mechanical clock and a calendar
Sanitation Special toilet arrangements needed to be made in order to conserve water. Toilet articles had already been mentioned in the provisions list (see above), and were mentioned again in relation to sanitation; the buckets or other containers were to be covered and fitted with bag liners, and if possible a chair should be improvised as a toilet seat. A disinfectant solution was to be kept as well; the "Sanitation Care" film recommended wiping one's hands with toilet paper soaked in mild disinfectant after using the toilet. A dustbin for toilet waste was to be kept just outside the fallout room; all other waste was to be either put in a separate dustbin if available or put in plastic bags or paper until it could be taken outside the house.
Fire prevention