’Chilling’ Nuclear Doomsday Announcement Draft Released
The doomsday script was never used by the British Broadcasting Corp., but decades later the message remains haunting. “This is the wartime broadcasting service,” the announcement begins. “This country has been attacked with nuclear weapons.” The decades-old statement continues: Communications have been severely disrupted, and the number of casualties and the extent of the damage are not yet known. The announcer promises to bring further information as soon as possible and tells listeners to stay tuned. A draft of the message was released by the National Archives on Friday, along with letters between government bureaucrats and BBC executives offering a rare glimpse at a Cold War secret plan to deal with a nuclear attack. “This is chilling to read,” said Mark Dunton, a contemporary history specialist at the National Archives.
