Cold War Early Warning System

[Alf]

An article originally published in the THG JOURNAL August 2003

[russell_w_b]

This is a good site on the subject as well.

I have a WB1400 receiver and carrier-unit at home. We used to have them in the BBC at our transmitting stations, and I remember having to listen out for various tones from time-to-time. I have been promised an ex- Cold-War air-raid siren which I hope to pick up this month, if things go to plan; a nice-little fixer-upper!

[Hermit6345]

Interesting thread. Back in about 1964/5 I was staying with a mate, from the same Naval vessel as myself, who lived with his parents in the waterworks pumping station close to the road down to the beach at Cayton Bay in Yorkshire. There was a box that emitted a ticking noise at that site which was explained to me at the time as being something to do with the cold war. Now I know what it was. I wonder why it was at that location though? Perhaps my mate's dad had instructions as to what to do in connection with his job at the pumping station if he received information of an impending strike.

[russell_w_b]

Originally Posted by Hermit6345

Now I know what it was. I wonder why it was at that location though? Perhaps my mate's dad had instructions as to what to do in connection with his job at the pumping station if he received information of an impending strike.

The WB1400 / 1401 (and the predecessor to these units, the dry-battery powered WB400) was installed in public houses, water-works, anywhere suitable in sparse locations where the remote populace could be warned of 'Attack Warning Red', Black Alert', etc..., and act accordingly.

There's a bit on my website about the role of a 'Community Advisor' (our near-neighbour was one) and what they might have to do, if the balloon went up. No doubt some Community Advisors' were equipped with WB monitoring equipment; ours wasn't, though he did work at BBC Skelton, where our unit was located.

I understand those people who 'looked after' a WB unit (your mate's dad) were equipped with a hand-cranked siren, of the type issued to the Royal Observer Corps.

[Chris-G8ETC]

Reminds me of an incident I directly caused back in the early 1970s as a result of something I did whilst undertaking maintenance on a communications link at a location in London. The net result was the RAF scrambled their aircraft into the sky above Britain

Fortunately I was cleared of all blame for what happened

[russell_w_b]

I haven't done anything of that magnitude, but I may as well regale you all with the tale of what happened when I was an electrician just out of my time in 1980 (and one who should have known better....)

I was asked by some builders how feasible it was to remove a siren from a part of the steel works at Workington. I was told on 'good authority' that it was no longer used. I followed the cable back to an isolator (which was in the "Isolated" position), turned it on, and pressed the starter button for a couple of secs, then turned it off again.

I was just drawing the fuses prior to attempting to remove the siren, when the works policeman dashed in, ranting about a telephone call he'd just received from the fire station divisional HQ in Cockermouth, eight miles away, wanting to know what stupid br had set the siren off! - apparently the back- contacts on the siren starter were linked directly to the fire HQ as some sort of civil defence alarm cct.

The job was dropped after that...

[M0AFJ, Tim]

I was a lowly apprentice wirking in Faraday telephone exchange in 1973, under instruction I was dismantling a rack and having removed the fuses, about 20 mins later all hell broke loose, unbenown to the guy working with me the rack also contained a WB400 link cct....., you can imagine the rest

[paulsherwin]

Originally Posted by russell_w_b

I have been promised an ex- Cold-War air-raid siren which I hope to pick up this month, if things go to plan; a nice-little fixer-upper!

There was an automatic siren on a long pole near my home in South Oxford until about 10 years ago, though it could have been decommissioned long before it was physically removed. This was the location: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.sr...=newsearch.srf

Exactly what people were supposed to do if they heard it sounding is anybody's guess, given that Oxford was and is surrounded by military targets quite apart from its civilian target status. Getting stuck into a bottle of whisky seemed as good a plan as any

Paul

[russell_w_b]

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

There was an automatic siren on a long pole near my home in South Oxford until about 10 years ago, though it could have been decommissioned long before it was physically removed. This was the location: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.sr...=newsearch.srf

Exactly what people were supposed to do if they heard it sounding is anybody's guess, given that Oxford was and is surrounded by military targets quite apart from its civilian target status. Getting stuck into a bottle of whisky seemed as good a plan as any

Paul

Sirens were extant and maintained in Lincolnshire in 2001. I counted six between Mablethorpe and Skegness! Further investigation revealed they were (are) used for flood-warning, and were (are) controlled from a HQ in Essex.

It's a pity, to my mind, that the WB network was ripped out, as the ex-Cold-War siren infrastructure would have been well suited to early flood-warning in vulnerable areas, rather than rely on 'opting in' to a flood-watch scheme via telephone contact.

Detractors say that double-glazing, higher ambient noise etc... would lessen the sirens' effect, but I beg to differ. It would cost an absolute fortune to reinstate the system now.

[Tim]

I remember the WB1400 carrier system in exchanges when I first joined BT. I used to work on them as part of my duties, changing batteries(although rechargeable it did wear out) and cabling or shifting etc. The occasional speaker unit is still to be found in remote exchanges here. The exchange equipment was housed in a sturdy steel cabinet to protect it from physical and EMP damage,although the cables were just run on the grid or runway as normal!!
Wasn't there also a system(or this might have been it) which went round to every exchange on the "TIM" ring(Time Indicating MAchine= speaking clock)?
Now the system is no longer in operation I am sure it is permitted to talk about it.

[russell_w_b]

Originally Posted by Tim

Wasn't there also a system(or this might have been it) which went round to every exchange on the "TIM" ring(Time Indicating MAchine= speaking clock)?

The TIM ccts (codename 'HANDEL') carried the WB service to Police CCPs (Carrier Control Points ), from which localised warnings were issued. I know an ex-Police Officer whose duties included manning the CCP. He told me that the most useful thing it was used for was checking one's watch!

I remember one night-shift being bored-but-curious, going down into the crypt line-termination room at Skelton with an audio sig,gen. Having put the output across the I/C telephone cct, I set it to around 72 KHz, and went upstairs to switch on the WB1400. I was rewarded with a satisfying 'Whooo' as the genny beat with the carrier-signal superimposed on our telephone line.