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Air Raid Sirens to sound over London

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  • Air Raid Sirens to sound over London

    Just after Christmas, the distinctive wail of an air-raid siren will once again echo out across the City of London.

  • #2
    I was a young police officer in London in the 1980s - we had to test the air-raid siren, which was on the station roof (and probably still is), regularly .... it always made a few passers-by jump when they heard it start to go.

    We also had to do a weekly check on the nuclear attack warning system, although that only sounded inside the control room in the station, so the public never knew.
    Last edited by AntonyM; 29-11-15, 12:38.
    Retired professional researcher, and ex- deputy registrar, now based in Worcestershire. Happy to give any help or advice I can ( especially on matters of civil registration) - contact via PM or my website www.chalfontresearch.co.uk
    Follow me on Twittter @ChalfontR

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    • #3
      When I started work in 1969, just down the road there was a factory with an air raid siren on the roof. This used to be tested annually. In the late 70's the factory closed down and the building was demolished. There was a lot of talk about the possible relocation of the siren, but I can't remember the outcome or whether there was further testing.

      Jay
      Janet in Yorkshire



      Genealogists never die - they just swap places in the family tree

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      • #4
        In the 1960/70s in Paignton, Devon the fire station used an air raid siren. Presumably to call retained firemen to the station when needed.

        Chris
        Last edited by Chris in Sussex; 29-11-15, 15:35.
        Avatar....My darling mum, Irene June Robinson nee Pearson 1931-2019.

        'Take nothing on its looks, take everything on evidence. There is no better rule' Charles Dickens, Great Expectations.

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        • #5
          The siren for Chartridge near Chesham in Bucks, was in my grandfather's hall. Well the handle was, the siren was on the wall outside. I don't know when it was decommissioned/removed but it was still there in the early 1960s.
          Caroline
          Caroline's Family History Pages
          Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.

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          • #6
            I thought the air raid siren was a horrible creepy sound - almost blood chilling. It meant "go for the airaid shelter". I can remember being out with my mother one day shopping and the siren went and although there was a shelter right next door to the shop we were in I was really upset because we had our dog with us and we had to leave her outside ...............she was completely unscathed and sitting by the door, as no bombs dropped nearby - she was probably more used to it than I was, being older than me!
            A few years later whilst in a country lane in the back roads of Ewell in Surrey, the siren suddenly sounded and I can remember being panic stricken as there was no shelter - it was being used by the fire station and the war had been over for a couple of years.

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            • #7
              We have two sirens that sound every Monday morning at 10am. Never having heard an air-raid siren I don't know if they are the same.
              Linda


              My avatar is my Grandmother Carolina Meulenhoff 1896 - 1955

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              • #8
                You can listen here Linda.

                In 1964 we lived with my granny and the fire station nearly opposite used to summon their retained firemen with the old air-raid siren, they would test it once a week and it made my little brother cry.

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                • #9
                  I was reading an article last week on the unexpected problems that we might see with refugees from Syria who arrive here ...............


                  apparently the sirens used by our emergency vehicles sound very much like air raid sirens in Syria, and thus could lead to stress, especially in children
                  My grandmother, on the beach, South Bay, Scarborough, undated photo (poss. 1929 or 1930)

                  Researching Cadd, Schofield, Cottrell in Lancashire, Buckinghamshire; Taylor, Park in Westmorland; Hayhurst in Yorkshire, Westmorland, Lancashire; Hughes, Roberts in Wales.

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