Video of 1950s Cold War evacuation drill in Calgary

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Video of 1950s Cold War evacuation drill in Calgary

Postby newsposter » Wed Oct 17, 2012 9:13 am

From the CBC digital archives. Can you spot any landmarks?

Cold War: Calgary evacuates: Operation Lifesaver

With superpowers in the east and west testing powerful new weapons, the Canadian race for self-preservation took off in the early 1950s. The rising of the Iron Curtain intensified the threat of mass destruction, as communication between the Americans and Soviets came to a screeching halt. In this volatile new world, Canadians fretted about fallout shelters and the government prepared to go underground.

The clock is ticking down to a planned disaster. On a sleepy Wednesday morning, Calgary's mayor initiates the alarm to empty one-quarter of the city's suburbs. Schoolchildren run home and families are given two hours to relocate to surrounding towns. Escape routes are tested and by early afternoon the northeastern section of the city is eerily deserted. This CBC Television report chronicles the mass evacuation effort...

http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/w ... saver.html
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