Handel (warning system)

Handel was the code-name for the United Kingdom's national attack warning system in the Cold War that was in place between 1962 and 1992. It consisted of two injection sites (RAF High Wycombe and the Royal Observer Corps Group 21 bunker in Goosnargh, Lancashire) linked to a series of two hundred and fifty-two carrier control points installed in major police stations; in turn, the control points were linked to several thousand the 1971 UKWMO film ''Sound an Alarm'' quotes a figure of 20,000 warning points, and a 1980s document prepared by or for Derbyshire Constabulary quotes a figure of 11,000 warning points.}} receiver units installed at "warning points" in various police, fire, and coastguard stations, government buildings, hospitals, industrial centres, and Royal Observer Corps posts, with sufficiently remote areas having the units installed in post offices, public houses, churches, or even private dwellings.

A Handel warning console can be seen at the Imperial War Museum in London among their Cold War exhibits, alongside the warning apparatus used by Kent Police (which was located at Maidstone police station to activate the sirens). Provided by Wikipedia