EARLY WARNING SIREN

simonm · Post by **simonm** » Mon 21 Dec, 2009 10:59 am

loupgarous wrote: I was reading subbrits's excellent Web site on (among other things) the British nuclear attack warning system when I ran across the following:"After attack, the arrival of fall out in an area could be announced locally by firing maroons from some 12000 “maroon points”, 9000 of which were collocated with hand siren sites."Please help an ignorant American out, someone, and tell me what a "maroon" is. I've visited the UK and thought I was up-to-date with British usage, but "maroon" is something I don't know about (except, of course, Bugs Bunny's "He's such a maroon... " It's a very nice coconut sweet.

Uno Hoo · Post by **Uno Hoo** » Mon 21 Dec, 2009 11:18 am

simonm wrote: loupgarous wrote: I was reading subbrits's excellent Web site on (among other things) the British nuclear attack warning system when I ran across the following:"After attack, the arrival of fall out in an area could be announced locally by firing maroons from some 12000 “maroon points”, 9000 of which were collocated with hand siren sites."Please help an ignorant American out, someone, and tell me what a "maroon" is. I've visited the UK and thought I was up-to-date with British usage, but "maroon" is something I don't know about (except, of course, Bugs Bunny's "He's such a maroon... " It's a very nice coconut sweet. My favourite Bugs Bunny quote of all time is his singing............"I dream of Jeannie, she's a light brown hare..............!"

dervish99 · Post by **dervish99** » Wed 23 Dec, 2009 2:14 pm

i may be wrong but i seem to remember an air raid type siren sounding in Beeston throught he early 80's. I think there was a siren on the roof of Beeston Primary School.

Crazy Jane · Post by **Crazy Jane** » Wed 23 Dec, 2009 3:44 pm

So would this be what we used to hear cira 1978-82 at Smeaton, before the housing estate went in on 'barnbow fields'?I'm sure i remember a siren going off, but it never ocurred to me at that age what it's function was.

dervish99 · Post by **dervish99** » Wed 23 Dec, 2009 9:13 pm

Yes that would be the one. it was a part of the civil defence system either left over from the war or for the cold war. It wasn't sounded that often only a few times a year i think.

sirjohn · Post by **sirjohn** » Thu 24 Dec, 2009 1:05 am

chameleon wrote: loupgarous wrote: I was reading subbrits's excellent Web site on (among other things) the British nuclear attack warning system when I ran across the following:"After attack, the arrival of fall out in an area could be announced locally by firing maroons from some 12000 “maroon points”, 9000 of which were collocated with hand siren sites."Please help an ignorant American out, someone, and tell me what a "maroon" is. I've visited the UK and thought I was up-to-date with British usage, but "maroon" is something I don't know about (except, of course, Bugs Bunny's "He's such a maroon... " are they a kind of reddy brown colour?

Post by **chameleon** » Wed 06 Jun, 2012 12:00 am

No need to duck and cover (or don yer wellies)!!!Unlikley they'll be heard in Leeds but - just in case - the flood warning sirens in areas surrounding Leeds will be tested on Thursday(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-18321984

somme1916 · Post by **somme1916** » Wed 06 Jun, 2012 12:14 am

chameleon wrote: No need to duck and cover (or don yer wellies)!!!Unlikley they'll be heard in Leeds but - just in case - the flood warning sirens in areas surrounding Leeds will be tested on Thursday(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-18321984 Used to be best when they tested the proper one on a Sunday morning without warning.Our local one,I believe,was atop the repeater station at Robin Hood on Leeds/Wakefield Rd.Bet the toilets were the busiest room around then.Didn't occur too often,but occur it certainly did !

Johnny39 · Post by **Johnny39** » Wed 06 Jun, 2012 1:43 am

sirjohn wrote: chameleon wrote: loupgarous wrote: I was reading subbrits's excellent Web site on (among other things) the British nuclear attack warning system when I ran across the following:"After attack, the arrival of fall out in an area could be announced locally by firing maroons from some 12000 “maroon points”, 9000 of which were collocated with hand siren sites."Please help an ignorant American out, someone, and tell me what a "maroon" is. I've visited the UK and thought I was up-to-date with British usage, but "maroon" is something I don't know about (except, of course, Bugs Bunny's "He's such a maroon... " are they a kind of reddy brown colour? Sirjohn - a maroon is a marine distress rocket, usually making a loud bang on launch and releasing a red flare on reaching a certain height. They are sometimes used for launching ropes to ships in distress.,

jonleeds · Post by **jonleeds** » Wed 06 Jun, 2012 2:12 am

Oh, dont get me started on anything cold-war related....!!! I'm morbidly fascinated, to the border of obsession with anything cold war related. Like so many other people of my generation who were forced to sit through screenings of the BBC's cold war apocalypse drama 'Threads' in GCSE English. Blimey I used to think if I trod on a crack in the pavement that WW3 would break out. I can remember seeing a massive air raid siren of the type used for the '4 minute warning' at Shibden Hall above Halifax. Also didnt a well known member of this forum go and photograph such an early warning siren relic in the belfry of Morley Town Hall relatively recently?What exactly they expected us to do if this dreadful sound had ever echoed above the streets of Leeds was a total joke. All the civil defence planning was based on woefully inadequate predictions of the potential warhead power that would be used against us by the USSR. In reality there would be virtually nothing that would be done to assist survivors had the 'balloon gone up'. Everything we take for granted would be utterly destroyed and not likely to return for decades - if ever. Did anyone else ever have recurring nightmares of nuclear war? I did ever since been shown the film 'Threads' and they were absolutely harrowing, I suffered these recurring terrors right into my late teens when they started to diminish in reoccurance and horror. I occasionally have one, but nothing along the lines of what I had previously. I know there are many other people who suffered in this way not just because of 'Threads' but because the threat of a nuclear conflict seemed very real at the time. There are websites / facebook groups and forums where people have written their experiences which all seem to follow a similar story. Anyway sorry if I've gone off on a tangent, I really cant help it, the moment someone mentions anything to do with the cold war...!