Preparing for Lunch after a Nuclear War

2024 has begun quietly in Yetholm (yet again!), but we live in very troubled times. Might World War Three have already begun without anyone noticing?

The picture above can be found in the YHS archives. We know little about it, apart from the fact that it shows, from left to right, 'Dora Young; Mrs Turnbull; Mary Wilson (d of Mr McAllister); Mrs India Russell'. The date is unknown, but one suspects it was taken in the early 1960s. It could be a festive occasion, but the posters pinned to the wooden rail tell a different story. Here is a clearer example:

Clearly what we are looking at is a Civil Defence excercise. The slogan 'Civil Defence is Common Sense' seems to have been coined in the late '50s and continued in use into the early 1960s, as can be seen on this post-mark from 1962:

There was a nationwide campaign at this date to create a volunteer 'Fourth Arm', in addition to the traditional Navy, Army and Airforce - specifically in order to deal with the chaos of a nuclear war.  This Fourth Arm had five sections:

From a poster published in 1957.

 'What about the millions of survivors?' asks the poster. Presumambly the ladies on Town Yetholm green were members of the Welfare section, whose job was to bring care and comfort 'to some millions of evacuees'. A basket of bread rolls can be seen, along with hot-water urns, to provide the bedraggled survivors from Newcastle or Edinburgh with a welcome cup of tea. The full (fascinating) poster from which the above extract is taken can bee seen by clicking HERE.

Although we don't know the exact date of our photograph, we know of other similar training events in the village. The cutting below is from the Berwick Advertiser of 15th May 1958. The ladies of the village, under the leadership of Mrs Hogarth, seem to have worked very hard - 'The meal was most enjoyable and very well cooked and all present voted the meal excellent'.

It is not known when the Yetholm section of the Civil Defence Corps was stood down - or perhaps faded away. Perhaps it may need to be revived in the not-too-distant future?