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Past Times

Emergency planning exercises brought fire, flames and drama to Dundee

Some exercises were part of the country's civil defence preparations when the threat of a nuclear war was very real.
Graeme Strachan
A firefighter at Dundee Airport in 1989, with smoke billowing behind him.
A firefighter at Dundee Airport in 1989. Image: DC Thomson.

If the unthinkable happens, the emergency services have to be sure they can cope.

This week’s pictorial trip back in time features photographs from emergency training exercises that have taken place in Dundee.

The DC Thomson archives team has dug out a varied selection of photographs featuring scenarios from air crashes and bombs to nuclear incidents.

Some exercises were part of the country’s civil defence preparations when Cold War tension was high and the threat of a nuclear war very real.

As the decibel level and bellicose rhetoric increased between Washington and Moscow, these were troubling times for anybody planning for the long term.

We can relax now, though, so grab a cuppa and enjoy having another browse back through the ages courtesy of The Dundonian, which appears in the Evening Telegraph every Wednesday.

Some of these photographs have not been seen for years.

Do they awaken any memories for you?


Preparing for a disaster with emergency planning exercises in Dundee

A civilian casualty with her arm in a sling being tended to.
A civilian casualty being tended to. Image: DC Thomson.

Local youngsters watch a woman wearing a sling being evacuated during a training
exercise back in June 1942.

Of interest is the helmet insignia, which suggests the training exercise was organised by the Second World War Civil Defence First Aid Party (FAP).

Someone is lowered from a first-floor window as a rescue team goes into action in 1961.
A rescue team in 1961. Image: DC Thomson.

This October 1961 image shows a stretcher being lowered from the upstairs
window of a building in St Boswells Terrace.

Civil Defence exercises took place all over the country throughout the 1950s and 1960s in the early decades of the Cold War.

Civil Defence personnel use a door as a stretcher during a rescue exercise in Dundee.
Civil Defence personnel during a rescue exercise in Dundee. Image: DC Thomson.

Civil defence personnel tend to a casualty during a rescue exercise in 1962.

As the perceived Soviet nuclear threat grew, Civil Defence Corps training focused on firefighting, rescuing people from damaged buildings and feeding survivors.

Firefighters rinse off after this exercise at Dundee Airport in 1989
This exercise took place at Dundee Airport in 1989. Image: DC Thomson.

Firefighters are being hosed down with water to decontaminate during this October 1989 disaster simulation at Dundee Airport on Riverside Drive.

Deaths were rife in the exercise with nine killed and 17 others rushed to hospital with serious injuries after two light aircraft collided on the runway at 11am.

Firefighters put out the flames in an accident simulation at Dundee Airport in 1990.
An accident simulation at Dundee Airport in 1990. Image: DC Thomson.

The September 1990 training drill at Dundee Airport was a scenario that saw three people being killed and dozens injured when a light aircraft plummeted from the sky.

At exactly 8.30pm the airport’s emergency siren went off and barely moments later its own fire appliances were racing across the tarmac to the plume of smoke at the other end of the runway.

Casualties being attended to during the exercise Dundee Airport in 1990.
Casualties being attended to during the exercise in 1990. Image: DC Thomson.

The oil drums, standing in for the burning aircraft, were quickly extinguished and a second fire was started which would be dealt with by units from Tayside Fire Brigade.

They were unfortunately held up as they had a real emergency to deal with.

A casualty on a trolley is put into an ambulance
Ambulance staff helping a casualty in 1990. Image: DC Thomson.

The victims were played by members of the St Andrew’s Ambulance Association who were realistically made-up and were all briefed about the symptoms of their injuries.

The Courier said the hangar “looked for all the world like the set of a disaster movie”.

Two firefighters helping a civilian during the 1994 emergency exercise.
Two firefighters helping a civilian during the 1994 exercise. Image: DC Thomson.

The scenario for the 1994 test at Dundee Airport was a Cessna coming in to land with a faulty undercarriage that gave way on landing, causing it to crash.

This left injured passengers and crew strewn across the airfield, with the burning wreck of the plane to contend with.

Paramedics and police officers get involved in 1994, with wounded laid out on a tarpaulin
Paramedics and police officers get involved in 1994. Image: DC Thomson.

All emergency services were involved with a full medical team from Ninewells Hospital and an officer from the Civil Aviation Authority in attendance.

The exercise lasted around 90 minutes.

Two ambulances and afire engine, with people on trolleys
A full emergency response was scrambled in 1994. Image: DC Thomson.

Tom Brydon, depute emergency planning officer with Tayside Region, said: “We have to follow everything through as if it were real and all the casualties have to be rescued, cared for and counselled.”

All airports were required to carry out these exercises every two years.

A ladder leaning on a bus during the 1996 exercise.
A ladder leaning on a bus during the 1996 exercise. Image: DC Thomson.

The 1996 exercise at Dundee Airport was one of the biggest of the decade.

All emergency services, including HM Coastguard and the RNLI, were in action following the simulated crash between a passenger plane and a training aircraft.

The 1996 exercise took place in December. Image: DC Thomson.

Volunteers from the British Red Cross, the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service, Tayforth University Officer Training Corps and St Andrews Ambulance Association played the role of casualties and anxious relatives.

The drama started just after 11am and lasted three hours.

A casualty is led away by firefighters in 1996.
A casualty is led away in 1996. Image: DC Thomson.

Chief Inspector Jim Edmonds, emergency planning officer with Tayside Police, said it was an “absolutely first class exercise for all of the agencies involved”.

It’s the final image in our emergency planning exercise gallery.

Did our pictorial trip back in time jog any memories for you?

Let us know.

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