In the Daily Mail, on the 5th of May 2008, Tom Kelly reports on a secret British government report from 1955 on how they were going to survive after a Soviet nuclear assault.
It was believed that the Soviets would strike London, Birmingham, Merseyside, Manchester and Clydeside with 20 megaton hydrogen bombs. They would also likely hit Tyneside, Teeside, Leeds, Sheffield, Hull, Derby, Southampton, Portsmouth, Bristol, Plymouth, Cardiff, Coventry, Belfast and Purfleet in Essex, with less powerful nuclear bombs.
They planned to stockpile supplies, the article says,
The report's writers suggest a huge effort to stockpile staple foods and prepare the nation for the aftermath of a nuclear strike.
Their shopping list includes 40,000 tons of condensed milk, 200,000 tons of oils and fats, 700,000 tons of raw sugar, and 800,000 tons of wheat and flour.
Oddly, there was some concern about the amount of tea available. It says,
"The tea position would be very serious," notes one civil servant in the report. "With a loss of 75 per cent of stocks and substantial delays in imports and with a system of rationing, it would be wrong to consider that even 1oz per head per week (enough for about 12 cups) could be ensured."
It adds that "no satisfactory solution has yet been found" to the tea problem and calls for a plan to ensure a decent supply.
I can understand this. It feels like the end of the world when we run out of tea too.
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