I was thinking about the old days (no not the old days of a few weeks ago when you could go to the supermarket in safety and not only buy what you needed, but what you fancied), the old days of the Cold War. You know, Cuba, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, atom bombs, JFK and missiles. You know the good old days when Corona was a pop and we were all a little safer as the enemy was a long way away and at least visible.
What days they were...
Oh, for those hot summer days and my Uncle Charlie dressed in his sweaty green woollen tunic and trousers, his shiny black boots so polished they gleamed, his beret sitting at a jaunty angle, his CDC cap badge proudly displayed and his thick bottle glasses no longer a reason for not serving in the war he couldn't sign up for because of his eyesight. Playtime, but playtime with a purpose. The planes flew overhead, the Landrovers were lined up all perfectly parked, green ambulances made circles in the arena to The Dambusters March and the Green Goddesses sprayed water all around. Demos on how to bandage a headwound, marching men with unloaded guns, gliders, ice cream vans, children running, men smoking untipped fags, air raid sirens blaring and a couple of old and patched barrage balloons in the sky. Was it war? No, just an exhibition day for the CDC.
Who remembers the CDC (The Civil Defence Corps) and where is it now when you need it most? The CDC was a civilian volunteer organisation established in Blighty in 1949 (so, four years after the war) to mobilise and take local control in the aftermath of a major national emergency - mainly a Cold War nuclear attack. My uncle Charlie loved it (lots of people did) and by March 1956, the Civil Defence Corps had 330,000 personnel (that's100,000 more men and women than today's army and reserves combined). Sadly though by 1968, it was gone (although some are left, two small Civil Defence Corps still operate in the British Isles, the Isle of Man Civil Defence Corps and Civil Defence in the Republic of Ireland). In Europe many countries still have a national Civil Defence Corps, usually with a wide brief for assisting in large scale civil emergencies such as flood, earthquake, invasion, civil disorder, or epidemic. Not us though, it was a cost issue in the main, that and a lack of interest from the public thanks to the swinging - dodgy sixties. I guess it was seen as a too bit Dad's Army for the 'New Britain' which was all the Beatles and the Stones.
What days they were, those long-ago sunny days of my memory. It got me thinking that if ever there was a time for a CDC then it's probably now. Just think of what those 330,000 volunteers and their ambulances, fire engines, Landrovers, along with their comprehensive and disciplined training could have done whilst we live through this current crisis. Think of how they could have eased the problems of food delivery, testing kit management, not to mention the accidents, fires, general disorder and rioting that are bound to happen at some point, people under house confinement are sure to have more issues and falls. Just think of the sandbags the CDC could have filled, the handpumps they could have manned, the drains they could have unblocked, the possessions that could have moved upstairs, the rubber dinghies they could have piloted in the recent awful flooding. We keep saying that things can only get better, but they aren't, they really aren't, are they? The CDC might have helped a little, maybe even a lot, because who is going to help the emergency services without them?
Of course, it's easy to be wise in retrospect (as I'm often told) but the CDC was a comforting thing to have around. You know, just in case. It made me feel a little safer in light of the reds maybe dropping a big bomb on us. Charlie used to say after the CDC was gone, that we'd need them all one day, but by then it would be too late all the vehicles scrapped, the skills all forgotten, the order and discipline unfashionable and replaced by an inclusive approach to disaster and meeting, after meeting, after meeting, but no action or responsibility from the people. The CDC was the people, and great people they were too.
Charlie kept his beret and cap badge in an old shoebox in his wardrobe. it's gone too now I guess, as is my Uncle Charlie. He was right though I think, he'd have saved me.
No comments:
Post a Comment