BRITISH CIVIL DEFENSE FILM "THE WAKING POINT" 28222

Produced in 1951, "The Waking Point" is a British Civil Defense film aimed at increasing recruitment to the now defunct Civil Defense Corps. The narrative of the story is set around an “every man” character in Joe Mercer who comes to realize that civil defense is universal after a mishap with his son getting trapped in a sandpit. At the end of the film he realizes there is “still time” to train in civil defense after he dreams about WWIII being declared before he’d finished his training.
One of the reasons Britain's Civil Defense Corps was disbanded is that, in nuclear warfare it was determined that there could be no appropriate civil response to the numbers of injured and trapped. In a 1980 exercise dubbed Operation “Square Leg”, an estimated 29 million were declared killed and 7 million predicted to be substantially injured -- far too many to be managed even under normal circumstances.
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[@kieranfo3739]

I'm a member of Civil Defence Ireland, well nuclear fallout was one of the issues that prompted the formation of the organisation it has evolved to support the full time emergency services in a range of roles and assist at public events, it's a shame the UK government disbanded their civil defence organisation, I feel if re-established trained and equipped volunteers would be a major asset to the country.

[@Marty32]

I feel like civil defence needs to be an integral part of every society. Authorities (fire, police, ems, etc) will be overwhelmed since their job is more like preventing things from getting worse. If the worst does happen, then we need the people to step up and help rebuild our homes. I feel like doing that also solves a lot of fundamental issues

[@sirivanhoe8672]

Kieran Fo you are so right

[@beetooex]

In the early 1980s the UK government compelled councils to release their plans on how they would react to a nuclear strike. Some councils reacted by publishing pamphlets stating why any form of planning was utterly futile in the face of total destruction. 'Leeds and the bomb' is one of the most famous. It's a fascinating read. www.roc-heritage.co.uk/uploads/7/6/8/9/7689271/leedsandthebomb.pdf

[@grahamfisher5436]

EXERCISE BLACKROCK

[@arthurlewis9193]

Not enough shovels. They'd need at least twenty if the A-bomb was dropped.

[@thewomble1509]

Interestingly, because British scientists and politicians under estimated how long it would take the Soviets to develop an h bomb, most of the measures shown here were rendered useless overnight in 1955.

[@thewomble1509]

*Sorry, OVER estimated!

[@mountainmantararua8824]

Here in NZ we still have Civil Defence, People are trained to deal with earthquakes and the like' and as we all know a good earthquake can be just like a war zone. Changes have been made to the organisation but it is still basicly like you see in these types of film.

[@stargo2931]

He gives his wife a glass of sherry to quiet her down.

[@sallyvillarreal4294]

I was so confused until I heard read the description. I thought this was pre-WW2, and the "last time" they were talking about WW1. (Maybe Joe had kids in college that were in diapers during "The Great War") 😋

[@davidweston9115]

Seems kind of silly to shut down an organization because you find that its task is potentially too big to handle. Insane really. On one hand, if you had a terrible accident many injured, surely it would be better to have preparations to help some of the victims rather than none of them. On the other hand, it is possible that the attack wouldn't be as bad as predicted and could be handled by civil defense. The M.A.D. scenario is scary but not the only possibility. What if a friendly bird dropped a nuke by mistake or what if a small nuke was made or stolen by a terrorist? or a non nuke weapon? Civil defense could help. I think they gave up because they figured no way to continue to match or exceed the other sides preparations. Such as the "mineshaft gap" situation portrayed in Dr. Strangelove movie.

[@sirivanhoe8672]

david weston. CD could have been of great help in the cvid 19 pandemic, alas the government of the day threw the baby out with the bathwater. MPs could never look forward 🇬🇧😷⛑

[@radiogreenduck]

2' 59"In spite of Joe being a "salt of the earth chap" he still manages to put his children through expensive private education "All right daydee." "He says we mustn't pay hereya!"

[@numberstation]

Language, Timothy!

[@st69854]

some people may survive.

[@stargo2931]

Shut up!!!!

[@stevetaylor8698]

Lots of people would survive, it is a diffiucult task killing huge numbers. Sadly many would be injured beyond repair and large numbers suffering from radiation sickness of various levels. I undertand that modern weapons tend not to be as big as the ones tested in the 60s - still massively destructive of course but less likely to cause global effects of atmospheric dust etc.

[@booklover6753]

@@stevetaylor8698 What you are discussing is moot. The longevity of the isotopes produced in a thermonuclear blast precludes any chance of survival. Eventually the prevailing winds will spread them worldwide. Having CD around for natural disasters is a great idea.

[@Bo4tZa]

Yeeeeeeeeeee🧊🧊🧊🧩🧑🏻‍🎤⚽️🧳🧳 🤔😑😯😶🤗🤔

[@JasonFelminghamLee]

"Keep your pecker up."

[@rapman5363]

🤣🤣😂😂

[@DJ_Cthulhu]

Brexit. The movie. 🤣