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Canada and the Failure of Civil Defence, 1945-1963

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IF WE ARE ATTACKED, LET US BE PREPARED: CANADA AND THE FAILURE OF CIVIL DEFENCE, 1945-1963 by ANDREW PAUL BURTCH, B.A., M.A. A thesis submitted to The Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History Carleton University Ottawa, Canada 30 June 2009 © Copyright, 2009, Andrew Paul Burtch Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 OttawaONK1A0N4 Canada Canada Your We Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-60100-6 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-60100-6 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduce, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Nnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1+1 Canada If We Are Attacked, Let Us Be Prepared: Canada and the Failure of Civil Defence, 1945-1963 During the early years of the Cold War, Canada created a civil defence organization to prepare Canadians for a possible nuclear attack. This enormous task required the cooperation of the federal, provincial, and municipal governments. A key element to its success was persuading the public to incorporate the principles of preparation into everyday life. Through exhibits, exercises, and public appeals, Canada's civil defence agencies exhorted citizens to volunteer as air raid wardens, to stockpile essential supplies, and to build fallout shelters underground where they could wait out the nuclear storm. Drawing from the extensive records of the Department of National Defence, the Department of National Health and Welfare, the Emergency Measures Organization, along with other government and manuscript documents and media sources, this dissertation explains the evolution of Canada's CD policies and addresses the question of why governments, institutions, and the public consistently refused to make the preparations expected of them in the face of nuclear extinction. Civil Defence proved to be a controversial and ultimately unsuccessful program. Its failure hinged on the nature of the CD relationship between the state and its citizenry, the inadequacies of government planning, and the balance of civil-military relations in Canada in the Cold War. In CD publicity, officials informed Canadians that their participation was a civic duty in the nuclear age, and equated community defence with guarding the values and freedoms associated with citizenship. Canadians rejected their prescribed obligation to support CD, some believing that an atomic defence was impossible, others arguing that the federal government or the armed forces should provide protection to civilians. The federal, provincial, and municipal governments could ii never agreed on the proper division of financial and political responsibility, which led to bitter debates that undermined the credibility of CD programs and confused the public. The Canadian military proved uninterested in assisting with CD, and, once enlisted by the federal government to lead national survival efforts, Canada's soldiers proved incapable of providing any meaningful support to the civilian population. As a result of all of these factors, Canadians were unconvinced of the efficacy of strategies proposed by governments for their protection, and Canada was completely unprepared to survive a nuclear war. in Acknowledgements This dissertation is the product of a prolonged research project, shaped and encouraged by a wide community of professionals, scholars, family and friends. Their support belies the notion that researching and writing a PhD dissertation is lonely work. 1 would first like to thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for its financial support of this project through a Canada Graduate Scholarship. I appreciate the efforts of those working in the Access to Information and Privacy Section at the Library and Archives Canada, whose quick review and release of the many once- restricted files used in this work greatly accelerated my research. Dr. Steve Harris and the staff of the Directorate of History also provided helpful direction and timely access to documents in their research centre. Staff librarians and archivists at the Canadian War Museum's Military History Research Centre provided essential interlibrary loan service and pointed out interesting files and photographs. Thanks are also due to the staff and volunteers at the Diefenbunker in Carp, Ontario, for the use of their archives. I owe my greatest debt of gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Norman Hillmer, whose understanding of the historical profession helped steer me towards this promising topic. His sharp editorial commentary helped to shape my inquiry, reasoning, and better my writing over the course of the past few years. I thank him for his mentorship and advice offered during many leisurely Sunday walks through the neighbourhood, but above all for his patience, friendship, and his unwavering support, academic and otherwise. The stimulating comments and useful corrections offered by the examination board, and especially Dr. Jonathan Vance, were greatly appreciated and helped to place a final polish on this work. Before the defence, support, advice and encouragement from iv the faculty of Carleton University's history department was always forthcoming and helpful, especially from Drs. Aleksandra Bennett, Fred Goodwin, Duncan McDowall, James Opp, John Walsh, and Susan Whitney. Joan White and Regina Aulinskas, who have shepherded many students through the Department of History, the administrative process of graduate studies, and awards applications, have my deepest respect, and my apologies for any trouble I caused on my way through. I thank my colleagues from Carleton for their support, especially Jennifer Anderson, David Hood, Susan Joudrey, Christine Rivas, and Stacey Zembrzycki. At the Canadian War Museum, where I have worked since 2006,1 would like to thank Dr. Dean Oliver, who unfailingly supported my studies. I am also grateful for the tuition assistance provided by CWM management during the final year of my doctoral work. My colleagues, Drs. Laura Brandon, Amber Lloydlangston, Jeff Noakes, and Cameron Pulsifer, all provided helpful insights into dissertation writing, and special thanks go to Drs. Tim Cook, Andrew Iarocci, and Peter Macleod, for their incisive commentary on several of my chapters, their support, and always thoughtful conversation. I should close with a word of thanks to my friends, including Jesse Alexander, Dr. Martin Auger, Dr. Serge Durflinger, Dr. Dave Meren, Omar Khan, Ryan Shackleton, Dr. Ryan Touhey, Jim Whitham, and many others, who acted as valuable sounding boards whenever asked. My mother and father, Leslie and Terry Burtch, kept me in touch with family and offered tremendous support, much love, and, on occasion, quiche. My last thanks I extend to my wife, Virginia Miller, my greatest supporter, a terrific editor, scholar, and teacher, and an unequalled partner. This work is dedicated to her. v Table of Contents Page x\bstract ii Acknowledgements iv Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Civil Defence in the Transition from World War to Cold War 29 Wartime Air Raid Precautions 30 Atomic Anxiety and Civil Defence Planning 1946-1948 38 Worthington's Plan for Civil Defence 47 CD Delayed... 55 ... And then accelerated 56 Conclusion 63 Chapter 2 The Expansion of Civil Defence During the Korean War 65 Rearmament and Civil Defence 70 CD in Winnipeg 76 CD in Montreal 85 Financial Support for CD 90 Armistice in Korea 95 Conclusion 97 Chapter 3 Armageddon on Tour: Civil Defence Publicity and Responsible Citizenship 99 Citizenship and CD publicity 100 The Exhibition 107 The Tour 112 The Results 122 Conclusion 124 Chapter 4 Evacuation, Celebration, and Thermonuclear Defence 126 The H-Bomb and CD 129 Towards an Evacuation Policy 135 Operation Lifesaver 146 Evacuation as Celebration 161 Evacuation Becomes Official Policy 172 Conclusion 178 Chapter 5 The Emergency Measures Organization and Civil Defence 180 VI Sputnik and CD Planning 181
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