This page was updated on 12/2/26 and currently has 53 links to Civil Defence related films.
Actual emergency incidents that Civil Defence assisted in.
Pothole Tragedy (Pathe - 1959)
Film of Derbyshire Civil Defence Corps & Mines Rescue attempting to save a trapped pot holer, sadly unsuccessfully.
This is Tragedy -(Pathe - 1966)
A grim newsreel piece about the Aberfan disaster showing Civil Defence Corps working with volunteers. More information here
Some Civil Defence training films available online.
The H Bomb (1956)
Civil Defence Corps & Fire Brigade training film about the increased effects of the new Hydrogen Bomb.
Operation Shuttlecock (1959)
Civil Defence Bulletins (1960?)
Includes 1: Nuclear explosions - the basic facts
2: Protective measures
4: Preparing the house
5: What to do if it happens - Warnings
6: What to do immediately after an attack
7: Life under fallout conditions
Radioactive Fallout (1960)
Radioactive Fallout -The Overall Situation" and "Fallout in the Affected Area" training films
The Warden, His Duties & Training (1961)
Training film for the
Warden Section of the UK Civil Defence Corps. Starts with new recruits,
prior to joining particular sections and proceeds through basic training
for wardens.
The Warden and the Householder (1961)
A Civil Defence Corps
training film for the Warden Section of the Corps, made in 1961 by the
UK Home Office. Includes archive footage of Hiroshima.
Civil Defence in Action - The HQ section (1962)
An excellent film showing the work of the various parts of the Headquarters section, using volunteers from Middlesex CDC.
Care of the Homeless (1965)
Civil Defence Corps and WVS training film, explaining the work of the Welfare Section of the Corps and WVS in the event of a nuclear attack. Filmed in Bath.
Some Civil Defence recruitment films available online.
Other People (1950)
A cinema interval recruitment film for the Civil Defence Corps
.Civil Defence Corps trailer (1950)
A cinema interval recruitment film.
The Waking Point (1951)
This is the classic Civil Defence Corps recruitment film.
Sheffield Civil Defence Recruiting film (195?)
Excellent film made for the city council.
Civil Defence cartoon filler (1958)
NEW "Civil Defence Short 11" (Imperial War Museum - 1960)
A great Auxiliary Fire Service recruitment film showing many of the roles available in the service.
Some films featuring Civil Defence Exercises available online.
Atom Exercise (Pathe - 1951)
For Britain's first big post-war civil defence exercise on 14th February 1951, a large number of troops moved into Bristol to aid Civil Defence workers.
Atom Bomb Drill in Bristol (1951)
Some different footage of the same exercise as above. The geiger counter being manfully waved around is a non-working mock up made for this film, no real ones had been issued yet.
Bristol Trains To Beat A-Bomb (Pathe -1951)
Some more footage of the same exercise as above.
Civil Defence Exercise at Southampton (Pathe - 1951)
The title says it all
Southampton on the Alert (1951)
More footage of the above exercise.
TA Practice Drill, Weapons Exercise And Civil Defence Exercise (1951/1955/1958)
A Scottish film compilation of the activities of the 278th Field Regiment of the Royal Artillery (T.A.), including civil defence training in the 1950s. No sound.
Civil Defence Exercise “Caviar” (1950-1959)
An exercise in Plymouth.
NEW Coventry Civil Defence Exercise. (Mace Archive - 1954)
When this was filmed, the Labour council of Coventry had refused to fund its Civil Defence Corps on the grounds that it was pointless in the face of nuclear annihilation. This clip shows an exercise that the CDC did against the Council's wishes and shows Councilor Sydney Stringer who lead the opposition to Civil Defence making a speech in front of journalists as the exercise goes on around him. In the end, as Civil Defence was a statutory duty of a council, the government forced them to pay up. Also I notice that this is the only film that shows the Rescue teams carrying gasmasks in the haversacks on their chests. No sound.
NEW Exercise "Wake" (Mace Archive - 1954)
A combined CDC & AFS exercise in Kidderminster. It takes a while to get started. No sound.
NEW Exercise "Loco" (Mace Archive - 1954)
Excellent film of a CDC exercise at Derby Locomotive Works. No sound.
Civil Defence Gets New Gear (1955)
Promotional film showing the introduction of the Rescue Man Pack for the Rescue Section of the Civil Defence Corps in 1955. The idea was to improve flexibility in operation so that each member of a rescue squad carried their own basic equipment in the way of tools and ropes.
Doom Town (Pathe - 1955)
Army Civil Defence training at Millom in Cumberland.
Proud City (Norwich) (1955)
Norwich City Council promotional film showing Civil Defence Corps Rescue section training - in colour.
NEW Exercise "Seagull" (Mace Archive - 1956)
Derby CDC Division exercise held at Darley Moor Airfield on 16 September 1956. It shows the use of a light aircraft for reconnaissance. No Sound.
Civil Defence Amphibious Exercise (19??)
Evacuation of casualties using boats on the Thames in London. No sound.
Civil Defence Camp Millom (1959)
Civil defence training exercises on the site of RAF Millom in Cumbria, with soldiers from the Territorial Army. Colour, no sound.
Catterick Camp Civil Defence (1960/1)
Excellent home-made film of rescue teams teams training and it’s in colour! I like it because it shows them messing around a bit as well as doing their serious training.
Women’s Voluntary Service Cooker Building (1961)
Colour footage of WVS Welfare section members building field cookers from Lincolnshire.
Operation County (1961)
A Scottish exercise at Taymouth Castle training ground. In colour but no sound.
Exercise "Lifesaver" (1961)
A Scottish civil defence training session at the Lanarkshire civil defence HQ, showing a variety of rescue techniques. Colour, no sound.
Exercise "Show Down" (1961)
Week-end training at Taymouth Castle for the Civil Defence Corps, Lanarkshire Section, Coatbridge Division. Colour, no sound.
700 Practice Civil Defence (Pathe - probably 1963)
A Civil Defence exercise at Bully Fen Training Ground in Hackney.
Exercise "Challenge" (1963)
A Scottish film of the Civil Defence Corps, Dundee Division on exercise at Taymouth Castle. Colour, no sound.
Rescue And Relief (1964)
A Civil Defence exercise, filmed at the Home Office Training Ground Epsom.
NEW Exercise at Chilwell Barracks, Nottinghamshire (Mace Archive - 1967)
A short clip showing a joint AFS & CDC exercise. Interestingly, they are "rescuing" dummies not real people made up as casualties. No sound.
Civil Defence Exercise (1968)
Civil defence emergency exercise staged in City of London at BP (British Petroleum) House. It features a plane crashing into a skyscraper.
Some other films featuring Civil Defence available online.
The Home Secretary Speaks on Civil Defence (Pathe - 1953)
The Home Secretary, Conservative MP for West Derby, Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, speaking about Civil Defence.
Fyfe reviews Civil Defence (Pathe - 1953)
Horse Guards Parade, London.
Civil Defence Review in Hyde Park (some time between 1954 & 1962)
Lord Kilmuir, the Lord Chancellor inspected a Civil Defence Review in Hyde Park which was part of a nation wide campaign to recruit more members and to show how civil defence can help in an emergency.
Civil Defence Helicopter (Movietone News - sometime between 1954 & 1966)
On charter from BEA a Westland Sikorsky Whirlwind has joined up with Civil Defence. The inauguration ceremony took place at South Bank.
Civil Defence Headquarters (1955)
CD vehicles & visit to CD HQ in Birmingham.
Civil Defence shows its paces (Pathe - 1955)
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire.
NEW Civil Defence cooking exhibition at Solihull. (Mace Archive - 1965)
Only a short clip but it does show most of the cookery equipment used by the Welfare section in one show: the army No.4 field cooker, the Soyer stove & their famed improvised brick cookers. No sound.
HAMILTONIA No.7: A Hamilton Newsreel of the Years 1962-63 (1962-63)
Civil Defence Corps playing Santa - collecting and delivering Christmas gifts in Hamiilton, Scotland Colour, no sound.
Archbishop sees Civil Defence (Pathe - 1964)
The Archbishop of York is shown Civil Defence School at Easingwold, Yorkshire, with training going on.
NEW Civil Defence exhibition and rescue demonstration in Birmingham. (Mace Archive - 1965)
A short piece of footage of a display with the set up of rescue manpacks & equipment familliar at our reenactments but also shows mouth-to-mouth resuscitation (a new and controversial thing in the early 1960s). No.sound.
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