Greater London Area War Risk Study (GLAWARS) - AIM25

Identity area

Reference code

GB 2110 GLAWARS

Title

Greater London Area War Risk Study (GLAWARS)

Date(s)

1975-1987 (Creation)

Level of description

Extent and medium

7 boxes

Context area

Name of creator

Greater London Council (GLC)

Biographical history

The GLAWARS was set up in April 1984 during the height of the Cold War by the Greater London Council (GLC) to investigate the impact of a nuclear or conventional war on London. To date the GLAWARS has been the most extensive scientific investigation of possibilities for civil protection and civil defence of a metropolitan area in a modern war.

During 1979 the Government's perceived lack of readiness for such attack pushed the Home Office into publishing in May 1980 a public information series called 'Protect and Survive' on civil defence. It was intended to inform British citizens on how to protect themselves during a nuclear attack, and consisted of a mixture of pamphlets, radio broadcasts, and public information films. However many thought the publication misleading when confronted by the real outcome of nuclear war. In 1983 the GLC was required to draw up civil defence plans for the city under the Civil Defence Regulations and asked the Government for more information about the scale and nature of any likely attack, but met a refusal from the Home Office.

In 1984 Ken Livingstone's GLC commissioned the GLAWARS research project to consider the effect of an attack on London and Londoners. The brief was to establish how London would cope with an all-out attack, nuclear or otherwise, and what would happen to the capital's residents, the food, the water, roads, railways, houses and hospitals. The GLC appointed an international Commission of five experts guiding the direction of the study who were Dr Anne Ehrlich (Stanford University USA), Dr S William Gunn (International Red Cross/Head of Emergency Relief Operations, World Health Organisation), Dr Stuart Horner (DMO, Croydon Health Authority/British Medical Association Council Member), Vice-Admiral John M Lee (Assistant Director, US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, retired) and Dr Peter Sharfman (US Congress Office of Technology Assessment).

At the same time, the GLC commissioned the Polytechnic of the South Bank (now London South Bank University) to carry out the GLAWARS study, under the overall direction of the Commission. In all 44 expert authors, including scientists, military experts and disaster-relief specialists, mostly from outside the Polytechnic, produced 33 separate research papers on topics such as Emergency Nursing Services, Nuclear Blast and Building Stress, Communication Destruction and Food Pollution. The researchers took as the basis of their report, five scales of nuclear attack ranging from eight megatons dropped on Britain by bombers carrying nuclear bombs and air-to-surface missiles to 10-35 megatons targeted on London alone by SS20 missiles. The report also addressed the possibilty of a conventional, non-nuclear attack on London's services.

The final horrifying results were presented to the GLC in early 1986 and were subsequently published in June 1986 in a 397-page book entitled 'London Under Attack: The Report of the Greater London Area War Risk Study'. The book was highly critical of Government and Home Office policy on civil defence and with its specific and merciless statistics destroyed the fairy tale of survival after a nuclear attack. "The prospect facing those who initially survived would be fear, exhaustion, disease, pain and long, lonely misery. Avoiding a nuclear war is still the only way of avoiding this fate", warns the Report. The depth and breadth of the conclusions of the GLAWARS went far beyond any investigation previously available to any official body, country or organization, and have since been found applicable to most major urban centres.

Repository

London South Bank University

Archival history

After the GLAWARS research was completed, the records were kept by South Bank Polytechnic's Library. In July 1992 the records wereexamined by Tom Horlick-Jones, Director of the London Emergency Planning Information Centre, who extracted research items he felt might be of value and the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority (LFCDA, now the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) of the GLA) kept a note listing that material. The remaining correspondence and other records were left but it was recommended they be sent to a permanent archive (possibly the GLC Archive) as they formed a part of London's history.

In September 1993 the London School of Economics (LSE) Department of Geography offered to add the remains of the GLAWARS archive to other related material held at the School by the Urban Hazard Project, run by Visting professor, Tom Horlick-Jones. In October it was agreed by South Bank University Library to deliver the archives to LSE. However, it would seem it was not and the material remained in the Library's custody until its transfer to the Archives in 2007.
GB 2110 GLAWARS 1975-1987 Fonds level 7 boxes Greater London Council (GLC)

The GLAWARS was set up in April 1984 during the height of the Cold War by the Greater London Council (GLC) to investigate the impact of a nuclear or conventional war on London. To date the GLAWARS has been the most extensive scientific investigation of possibilities for civil protection and civil defence of a metropolitan area in a modern war.

During 1979 the Government's perceived lack of readiness for such attack pushed the Home Office into publishing in May 1980 a public information series called 'Protect and Survive' on civil defence. It was intended to inform British citizens on how to protect themselves during a nuclear attack, and consisted of a mixture of pamphlets, radio broadcasts, and public information films. However many thought the publication misleading when confronted by the real outcome of nuclear war. In 1983 the GLC was required to draw up civil defence plans for the city under the Civil Defence Regulations and asked the Government for more information about the scale and nature of any likely attack, but met a refusal from the Home Office.

In 1984 Ken Livingstone's GLC commissioned the GLAWARS research project to consider the effect of an attack on London and Londoners. The brief was to establish how London would cope with an all-out attack, nuclear or otherwise, and what would happen to the capital's residents, the food, the water, roads, railways, houses and hospitals. The GLC appointed an international Commission of five experts guiding the direction of the study who were Dr Anne Ehrlich (Stanford University USA), Dr S William Gunn (International Red Cross/Head of Emergency Relief Operations, World Health Organisation), Dr Stuart Horner (DMO, Croydon Health Authority/British Medical Association Council Member), Vice-Admiral John M Lee (Assistant Director, US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, retired) and Dr Peter Sharfman (US Congress Office of Technology Assessment).

At the same time, the GLC commissioned the Polytechnic of the South Bank (now London South Bank University) to carry out the GLAWARS study, under the overall direction of the Commission. In all 44 expert authors, including scientists, military experts and disaster-relief specialists, mostly from outside the Polytechnic, produced 33 separate research papers on topics such as Emergency Nursing Services, Nuclear Blast and Building Stress, Communication Destruction and Food Pollution. The researchers took as the basis of their report, five scales of nuclear attack ranging from eight megatons dropped on Britain by bombers carrying nuclear bombs and air-to-surface missiles to 10-35 megatons targeted on London alone by SS20 missiles. The report also addressed the possibilty of a conventional, non-nuclear attack on London's services.

The final horrifying results were presented to the GLC in early 1986 and were subsequently published in June 1986 in a 397-page book entitled 'London Under Attack: The Report of the Greater London Area War Risk Study'. The book was highly critical of Government and Home Office policy on civil defence and with its specific and merciless statistics destroyed the fairy tale of survival after a nuclear attack. "The prospect facing those who initially survived would be fear, exhaustion, disease, pain and long, lonely misery. Avoiding a nuclear war is still the only way of avoiding this fate", warns the Report. The depth and breadth of the conclusions of the GLAWARS went far beyond any investigation previously available to any official body, country or organization, and have since been found applicable to most major urban centres.

After the GLAWARS research was completed, the records were kept by South Bank Polytechnic's Library. In July 1992 the records wereexamined by Tom Horlick-Jones, Director of the London Emergency Planning Information Centre, who extracted research items he felt might be of value and the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority (LFCDA, now the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) of the GLA) kept a note listing that material. The remaining correspondence and other records were left but it was recommended they be sent to a permanent archive (possibly the GLC Archive) as they formed a part of London's history.

In September 1993 the London School of Economics (LSE) Department of Geography offered to add the remains of the GLAWARS archive to other related material held at the School by the Urban Hazard Project, run by Visting professor, Tom Horlick-Jones. In October it was agreed by South Bank University Library to deliver the archives to LSE. However, it would seem it was not and the material remained in the Library's custody until its transfer to the Archives in 2007.

London South Bank University

Records of the Greater London Area War Risk Study (GLAWARS) comprising:

GLAWARS/1 - Home Office: records from the Home Office regarding emergency planning and civil defence in local authorities, 1975-1987

GLAWARS/2 - Greater London Council (GLC): GLC records regarding civil defence, emergency planning, the GLAWARS and the Civil Defence Regulations 1983, 1975-1985

GLAWARS/3 - Research Materials: records regarding civil defence, emergency planning and local and global effects of nuclear war or attacks, 1967-1987

GLAWARS/4 - Background, Terms of Reference and Research Task Outlines: outlines and outcomes for 11 of the 12 tasks required by the GLAWARS. Task Eight is not included, c.1984-1986

GLAWARS/5 - Newsletters, Progress Reports, Home Office and Consultants' Meetings, 1984-1985

GLAWARS/6 - Commissioners: records concerning the seven GLAWARS commissioners, their roles, memorandum and meeting minutes, 1984-1986

GLAWARS/7 - Presscuttings regarding the GLAWARS and the publishing of 'London Under Attack', 1984-1986

GLAWARS/8 - 'London Under Attack': publicity and publishing records for the GLAWARS findings published in a book entitled 'London Under Attack', 1985-1986

None expected

The collection is catalogued.

The collection is available to the public, except for records restricted under the Data Protection Act. Please contact the University Archives Centre for details. 24 hours notice is required for research visits.

Reproduction is at the discretion of University Archives Centre staff.
English

catalogue
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal Place and Corporate Names 1997. December 2010 Military administration Disasters Accidents Explosions Safety Disaster prevention Emergency planning Weapons of mass destruction State security Defence Civil defence Manmade disasters Nuclear explosions Disaster relief Civilian relief Medical sciences Emergency medicine International conflicts War victims War dead Civilian war deaths Military engineering Warfare Nuclear warfare Peace Disarmament Nuclear disarmament Equipment Military equipment Weapons Nuclear weapons Nuclear bomb Emergency services Ambulance services Administration Organisation and management Civil Defence Act 1948 c5 Defence legislation Legislation Law Nuclear free zones Fire services Civil service Central government Public administration Government Livingstone , Kenneth Robert (Ken) , b 1945 , politician Polytechnic of the South Bank Home Office Greater London Council , 1965-1986 London England UK Western Europe Europe

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

London South Bank University

Content and structure area

Scope and content