Those were the days; the days when life was so much simpler and all we had to worry about was the possibility of nuclear armageddon within fifteen minutes of the button being pushed.
The UK government produced 'Protect and Survive', a booklet which was sent to every household. It didn't inspire confidence.
At the time I was a volunteer member of an organisation which would have been part of the warning chain in the event of a nuclear attack and, had any of us been left to do it, report on the size and location of a nuclear burst and the subsequent arrival of fallout.
We had a total of 873 reinforced concrete underground posts scattered around the country reporting to twenty-five regional control centres.
Firstly, each post was a warning point. A voice 'Attack Warning Red' message would come from a receiver in the post and also in several thousand other locations around the country which would be the trigger to sound sirens.
Assuming there were any of us left twenty minutes later we'd move on to the reporting function.
Each post was equipped with a number of instruments to assist in the plotting of a nuclear burst:
1. The Bomb Power Indicator.
This was effectively a barometer which measured the over pressure from a blast.
2. Ground Zero Indicator.
This was a simple pin hole camera which had four cassettes of photographic paper, one for each cardinal point.
Images burned on the paper were measured in terms of degrees.
3. Fixed Survey Meter.
Recorded and measured ionising radiation.
The posts were grouped into clusters of three, or sometimes four, and when information collected from the above instruments was fed to Group Control detonations could be plotted and their size determined.
Wind speed and direction would be applied and the likely extent of radiation could be predicted.
This information was fed back to the posts and the imminent arrival of fallout would be signalled to the locality by the firing of maroons.
It's rather a long time ago since I was in but I'm confident that the above is an accurate precis. BTW, it's all in the public domain now.
It was an interesting few years!
Protect and Survive.