WWII Carter Air Raid Siren

Siren half way through restoration, this being a full speed test via 3 phase power. This was the first time it had operated for nearly twenty years and did so without fault! Motor manufacturer is Brook Motors of Huddersfield. Siren is Carter type 1H.

[@RileyGoss]

That would be a badass alarm clock.

[@duprebs]

At full speed, this siren runs at 2840 rpm.

[@argenmerican]

These things scare the fuck out of me

[@Dutchaholics]

The germans ! The germans ! wait... Am i german ?

[@peejay1954]

How many decibels is that?

[@Murdoch493]

Reminds me of the THX Intro...

[@domlols9841]

It's 10 holes on one and 12 on the other in case anyone is wondering

[@nicklombardi6265]

I can only imagine the chills people got back during WWII when they heard these sirens sound.

[@980username]

you wont love the sound when you hear it for real..

[@josienkamp8049]

He starts at 1.25

[@lukeharman9015]

Sounds like a plane at low speed

[@ethelthefrog6572]

The sound of doom. As a child of the 70s/80s I grew up knowing full well what these things were for and can well recall as a kid seeing them on poles or atop police stations. Having been in close proximity to a couple running at full pelt in later years I can confirm that they are VERY loud..

[@dunebasher1971]

That was a scary enough sound during WW2, but come the nuclear age, to hear the sirens tested was truly terrifying.

[@ecosmart1565]

made popular in WW2 but spent a far longer period of time on standby all the way up till 1992, all over the uk, controlled by British telecom and could be activated by the police or civil defence, (several thousand at the same time) not easy to ignore..there was an incident in 1986 in Edinburgh where the sirens were accidently activated at 6am one morning leaving the population petrified for several minutes.

[@digitalbroadcaster]

I used to have three of these, but somebody really must have liked them enough to scale a wall, and take all three to seemingly borrow, long term. As in forever. I never got them back. They also took some telephone signal receivers that were used to receive the alert signals in a cold war. However, having lived near a dockyard as I was growing up, I heard its sirens blaring out every lunch and home time as a signal for the workers, so grew used to them.

[@PianoMastR64]

That was actually kinda nice to listen to.

[@BULL3THOL3S]

I kind of want one. You know just in case lol

[@munchkinhead15]

I was going to skip to the siren but Otis Redding kept me around.

[@duprebs]

@ccoraxfan This siren was deliberately powered up slowly incase it seized up, as it had been stored away unused since decommissioning. In actual fact, it has the most amazing bearings in, and motor wise, is in good shape :).

[@AuSSiEJaZzA]

I need one for the neighbors.

[@PandaLikesTofu]

There's always been something so fascinating and frightening about the sound it makes. Is always been so eerie to me when I was younger.

[@duprebs]

Thanks guys for your comments :-). She's not in bad nick, considering she was made in 1936! A lick of paint and she will be as good as new!

[@Well_Edumacated]

it is amazing that pulsating air can makes such a loud noise

[@duprebs]

The power was increased slowly for the test, and in ordinary circumstances it would have reached full speed quicker, but the wind up sounds really good :-)

[@mchagnon7]

ONE OF THE MOST BADASS NOISES OF THE 20TH CENTURY!

[@LilacStarbloom]

1:00 COME ON!!!!

[@duprebs]

Yes it did and was done on purpose. After siting for so long unused, it was powered up slowly incase it seized up!

[@Drobium77]

I live not 4 miles from Coventry, which was entirely destroyed by the Germans in WW2 with the loss of over 2000 lives. When I hear these Carter sirens, it always sends a shivver down my spine, thinking that all that death and destruction would have been accompanied by the sound of that siren :-( It's such a sad sounding noise and maybe one of the last sounds that so many hundreds of thousands heard.

[@Lee-70ish]

That must bring back a few not so nice memories for some people

[@TheMatsushitaMan]

Just subtract 3400 RPM by 20% of 3400 and u get the answer. 10hz difference in AC voltage hertz is 20% RPM difference for 3300-3600 RPM motors. Just luv that sound!

[@scastle90]

One of these is sounded once a month or so in my town (Dover) and it never fails to give me goose bumps!

[@MrQc2010]

Damn men, i don't know why but this sound give me chills!

[@ehlejandro]

What did you guys do to my bench grinder?!

[@infinite_dynamics]

Hell yeah!! I love that sound, everyone loves that sound, I don't understand why... Cos for a long time it signified death... Maybe all humans are secretly dark and morbid inside? Who cares, sounded sucking sick!

[@ShadowOfTheZone]

That is the most horrifying sound ever.

[@callumrichens7904]

How many holes are on each side? I need to know because I'm making one

[@duprebs]

MrBigquads! Thanks for your comments :-). She really is a beauty and has been an absolute joy to restore. She is now fully restored and repainted to her former glory.

[@normaburgess6044]

I'd like to put one of these on the roof of my house. Then i'd power it up every April Fool's Day and watch the neighbors go crazy.

[@TyCetto]

AWESOME noise!

[@ihatealanfitch7718]

Imagine if they had an elderly neighbor that was in WWII and he heard that. Some crazy flashbacks

[@worm1949]

I got one on my 1949 chevy

[@henthorn123]

This is the most terrifying sound ever, just hearing it makes my skin crawl :s

[@nicholaswoodyat5444]

theres still one where i live on a telephone pole it probably dont work any more but it would be good to it go off.

[@thecagekeeper9938]

If you put your finger in there I swear your finger will be off in 0.002 seconds

[@duprebs]

This siren runs at 2840rpm :-)

[@shortcaaake]

"Did... did I for sure pause the video? *actually hears air siren* OH CRA-"

[@CodyRayy119]

my dad had one of those and scared my neighbors lol

[@ChrisRichmond]

I'm now restoring my 3rd Castle Castings siren and I'm trying to work out the history on these... The 3 Castle Castings sirens I have are all powered by Brooks-Crompton-Parkinson motors, which is part of Hawker-Siddeley. The siren in this video is clearly powered by an older variant of Brooks motor, yet it's listed as a Carter&Co type 1H. What I can't work out is the link between Castle Castings LTD and Carter&Co. The rotor castings and rotor housings look EXACTLY the same on BOTH makes of siren

[@Pete7647]

Later used to alert Retained firemen to the station, in cities it WAS for Air Raid Warning , but anyone living in a Village or Town would hear this every week for a test oe when their local Fire Station was being alerted for a Fire.

[@wrightti1]

That's a real beauty!!! Thanks for sharing this!

[@cherrypieisthebest2604]

i like it how it just powers dooooowwwwwnnn...

[@DanWisbey]

Awesome, is exactly like the one I used to own! Same shape, model etc, nice to see how they sound when working! :)

[@MrJCM1970]

That is awesome! It is a really nice siren and in amazing condition too for it's age. Hope you can run it again soon!

[@mangomarvels]

the most petrifying sound

[@ivinyo16]

I don't why I like the sound of air raid sirens so much.

[@PlatinumEagleStudios]

SONG IN BACKGROUND: Otis by Jay-Z

[@LuIbasaur]

I used to do this too when I was a kid. Except it wasn't a v8 powered hair horn...it was a fan....and the sound wasn't created mechanically...I made it with my mouth.

[@bettyboop65340]

would make a good fire horn

[@duprebs]

@Zachary Brooks Hi. I'm sorry, this siren is not for sale. I think shipping costs to the US would be huge anyway. Good luck searching for a siren, hope you find one nearer to home! :)

[@kylekraft8473]

That was awesome! I'd love to have one of those!!

[@Digital111]

Sounds a bit like the engine of a plane

[@duprebs]

@Hondaking: a three phase supply was used at a business local to me who test electric motors.

[@HodenkrebsFTW]

Beautiful, simply beautiful

[@escortmad79]

That would explain why I can remember one being on Brixhams fire station when I was a child. Not there anymore

[@Fresse]

The sound this thing makes just tears through my soul and activates my primal instinct

[@cherrypieisthebest2604]

the sound creeps me out O-o

[@tomshiba51]

Now that's a classic sound. Nice!

[@triniyankee]

I would so put this on my front lawn at 5 in the morning

[@joebell585]

WANT ONE!

[@digitalbroadcaster]

I remember when these things were on on poles everywhere but then over the space of a week, they all got taken down. There must be a warehouse full of them somewhere. I have an old cold war radio receiver somewhere in my house that I was given. Never got to grab a siren though, although I was given a 'grey box' BT siren receiver system many years back. No idea what became of it though so must have thrown that one out.

[@DiscoDevilDog]

Some poor old WWII chap down the street heard this, shat himself then barricaded himself in his basement. Worth it!!!

[@mikecrea1900]

Such a cool sound

[@R5H4D0W]

Possibly the best sound ever employed in getting people out of their cozy love nests and get in a storm or bomb shelter....

[@Pete7647]

Correct until late 60's upto about 72 in this area when they went to pagers, problem was that responding Firemen would be held up because traffic did not give way has they used to do when the Siren went because they knew there would be certain vehicles moving fast towards the station, guess Lifeboat men have the same trouble now when they are alerted by pagers

[@mirrorclick]

When I lived in Plymouth (England) I was a bout 3 miles away from the dockyard and every monday morning 11am without fail they test the sirens that sound just like this. *just incase one of the nuclear subs has a leak*

[@Coopstans]

That will keep my ears destroyed, thank you very much.

[@bigdeano1991]

That is a beautiful sound, although if I'd bee around in the days of the Blitz I probably wouldnt be saying that.

[@wally23tbm]

Classic! Love it!

[@dasarge84]

all i can say is absolutly amasing these are so rare i would love to have one just to have it it would be even better if it worked like this one

[@KFKale]

It's some kind of eye illusion at the speed it's going at, I forgot it's name.

[@kokirivivi]

When you think of how the older telephone poles were basically just de-barked and tarred tree trunks, then I'd say its the right size.

[@duprebs]

@110samec The impellers spin in the same direction, it has a 10/12 port, so as its slowing down it looks like they spin in opposite directions.

[@losingmymind611]

So kickass and amazing.

[@Pete7647]

Retained boys have a shout !!! happy memories from the 60's

[@nordicberserk]

Thank you for your instant replay button! Many thumbs up!

[@johnbarnes6920]

imagine that sound in a WW2 lesson in school kids would shit themselves

[@19GN03]

Owesome, gives you the feeling of feer people had in WW2, nice job

[@MasterJediDude]

That sound reminds me of a hundred nightmares about nuclear war and tornadoes.

[@ginacollecchia6927]

shephard's tones, i love thee!

[@duprebs]

@djoska87 Yes, the green was the primer applied after sandblasting. I have just put in a profile picture,this being the restored siren. I do have other pictures, but hope you can see this pic well enough to get an idea of the completed job!

[@SouthernRailfan]

How about if you pit horn on the side of the holes where the chopper turns and turned it on the side where the horns will point in each direction and put it on top of a telephone pole.

[@dlancier]

I want one for my home alarm system. That will keep the thieves away.

[@duprebs]

bluehazer, :-). I had it tested on a local industrial unit that had horses nearby, luckily they weren't there, so the test went ahead. But it was so so loud, but great to hear it!!

[@ayh599]

that sound is rehminds me of tsaanimi

[@c4cypher]

I'm waiting for you ... in our special place, in Silent Hill.

[@techladdie]

Our local Volunteer Fire Stations siren is a Carter WWII Siren Also.

[@enjoypolo]

Goddamn I get goosebumps everytime I listen to this !

[@D13tell]

These Carter 1H sirens sound so awesome!

[@nestoralegre5382]

awsome machinery

[@kevincripps6156]

very good