“Little faith in the government’s notions about safety in the event of a nuclear war” was the opinion of physicist Dr John Earnshaw of Belfast University, but one shared by many others on the government’s Protect and Survive campaign. But what was it?

The Protect and Survive campaign was a cold war series of leaflets and films, detailing how to survive a nuclear attack. The films were made by Richard Taylor Cartoons, the same company that made Charley Says, but were only to be broadcast if a nuclear threat was imminent. The leaflets were put up for sale in 1980 and included information such as shelter making, what to take with you into the shelter and the importance of radio. However, the government had kept the leaflets a secret for decades before.

 

When the leaflets were released, they were made fun of and deemed inadequate by many, most notably by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament who made this leaflet in response. It criticises Protect and Survive’s disturbing spin on a nuclear attack, which shows it as seemingly “positively enjoyable, conjuring up visions of the warm company and happy singsongs which supposedly existed in the shelters in World War Two”. The criticism embarrassed the government, and further publications were kept private, only for the eyes of emergency planners.

 

Despite it being a practical failure, Protect and Survive has a lasting legacy. It has been referenced in many musical works, including those by Jethro Tull, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Public Service Broadcasting. It has also been referenced in television and film, most notably in When the Wind Blows,1982. It’s had a huge cultural impact and it is a stark reminder of what we could have faced not too long ago.