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"Duck and Cover !"

AP

In mid-1940 - before the Battle of Britain and the Blitz - the London Board of Education distributed informational material to schools, illustrating how pupils and staff should behave should air raids occur during school hours. I fear that this approach might not have proved adequate as a response to actual bombs and incendiaries. As I am sure some of our American friends will recall, the "Duck and Cover" line was still being offered to school kids in the US as a response to possible nuclear attacks in the 1950s and '60s (in the US, they even used an informational movie with a cheery "Duck and Cover" jingle), and variations on the theme were promulgated in Europe. Just as well the nukes never came - anywhere in the vicinity of a nuclear blast, the duckers and coverers would, literally, have been toast. Oh well. I suppose it made people feel a bit better, anyway ... Best regards, JR.