How the Cold War impacted us : Ken Gibbs

ENTRANCE TO THE DIEFENBUNKER

My wife comes of Irish stock so, inevitably, has cousins all over the world.  One of those cousins has become addicted to ‘Ancestry.com’ so we are often provided snippets of her family’s history that probably should have remained hidden.

As you can imagine, when two women – both of Irish stock – communicate, the subjects they cover range from family; the weather where each happens to be; gardening; leprechauns; four-leaf clovers; their respective university protests when they were very much younger; the Cold War, together with – would you believe – a range of different means of nuclear bomb disposal. Collectively termed ‘gossip’ ?

In the cousin’s case, she – being Canadian – decided that her grandchildren should be made aware of their country’s history, which indeed did include preparing for a nuclear war where simple survival was a feature.  This was mainly because Canada inconveniently sits on the direct flight path between the USA and Russia.  Greenland, which is on the same flight path as Canada, recently was the recipient of an uninvited visit by the US Vice President who referred to Greenland as ‘pathetic’ possibly because he was made aware that he was not welcome.  So much for friendly relations between neighbours.

From the Canadian cousin, we were provided many photos of an underground bunker in Ontario known as the Diefenbunker, near Ottawa.  Googling the Diefenbunker saves space on the XUNICEF blog, but you should know that it is underground.  There is even a military command bunker known as ‘The Hole’ which is, apparently, 600 feet underground under solid granite which must have taken some logistics to create.

All of the foregoing discussion/gossip was precipitated by President Trump musing that he wanted Canada as the 51st state of the USA, which didn’t go down a bundle with anybody in Canada, but which provided a convincing win at the polls for the Liberals with a Prime Minister who wasn’t even a Member of Parliament, going into the election.  Thank you, Donald, kind of you, even if you didn’t intend it this way.

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The Canadian cousin has a sister, living in Edmonton – which is in Alberta, Canada – and she, too has experience of a bunker. This bunker is in Penhold, some 110 miles south of Edmonton.

Apparently, the Penhold bunker was owned by the Federal Government which, because it was deemed then to be surplus to requirements, sold it to a group of farmers.  The farmers then put the bunker on the market; the Hell’s Angels made an offer which didn’t please the Federal Government who bought it back from the farmers – who made a $ 400,000 profit on the deal - and the Feds then filled it with concrete.  Can you imagine what the Hell's Angels would have done if they had had an impenetrable safety cave ?

PAINTED ON TO THE CONCRETE SEAL

TO THE PENHOLD BUNKER, ALBERTA

 

Traduction française au dos

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Out of curiosity, I wondered if there was a cold war bunker in British Columbia, and Mr Google helpfully said that there were/are three or possibly even more in the province.  So, cold war bunkering was a widespread infection.  For Canada which lies under the flight path of potential nuclear exchanges between the United States and Russia, this was inevitable.  Thus, you are spared a litany of bunkum, but. . . . . .it might be of interest to look at early preparations in case the cold war heated up, but that is for the next or a later article.

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 As an ex-WatSan Programme Officer for UNICEF, I never imagined that I might trip over a potential bunker in my work and travels for the agency, which was ‘corrected’ by a visit to New York in the early 1980s.  I confess to forgetting the official reason for my duty travel, but it was the accommodation in a hotel that remains bright in my fading memory.

As soon as I checked into my room and closed the door, I found a number of important notices.  Inevitably, in case of fire, your collection point was (forgotten); but in the case of a siren signifying an attack, immediately withdraw to the basement.  Helpfully, I was informed that there was adequate water to sustain occupants for at least one month in the basement cistern.

On returning to the desk to hand in my key, I (innocently ?) asked when was the last time that the water in the basement cistern had been flushed and refreshed ?  The desk clerk looked puzzled as if I came from a different planet.  “What cistern ?”, he asked.  Apparently, management of hotel facilities was not part of his CV.  On return to the hotel at the end of my first day, I asked the replacement desk clerk the same question, receiving the same odd look.  Patently, they were not expecting any incoming missiles.  So much for staying safe when under attack. . . . .

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So, hold yourselves in patience for the next article which will deal with at least one aspect of delivering a nuclear device to ‘The Enemy’.