27 June 2007
A group which was set up to be Jersey’s eyes and ears in the face of the Cold War threat is being stood down after 47 years service.
The Jersey Warning and Monitoring Organisation consisted of volunteers who, starting in the 1960s, had a role in supporting the defence of the Channel Islands and the United Kingdom. During that time they provided a valuable and necessary contribution to civil defence and supported NATO exercises from their command bunker in Trinity Road which, at the time, was a secret location.
But now they have been told their job is over and, at 6.30 pm on Thursday 28 June, they will meet for the last time at their bunker HQ to meet the Lieut-Governor, His Excellency General Andrew Ridgeway for an informal decommissioning.
The States has made new arrangements for emergency planning and protection, following a review of the procedures in 2005. An Emergency Planning Board (EPB), chaired by Chief Executive Bill Ogley, reports to the Emergencies Council, which is chaired by the Chief Minister. The EPB coordinates work between all States departments and its emphasis is on civil protection, rather than civil defence.
Chief Minister Senator Frank Walker said: ‘Times have changed significantly and we have an approach which is more suited to the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. Our emphasis is on cooperation and coordination, both within the States and with the world outside Jersey.’
‘One example is the establishment of a new working group through which Jersey and the French authorities will jointly consider the safe development of the nuclear reprocessing plant at Flamanville.’
But, he added: ‘The people who have made up the Early Warning Group have done a fantastic job for Jersey. This decommissioning really marks the end of an era and shows how much times have changed. It isn’t just a different international environment, but different techniques for early warning and monitoring, which recent technological advances have made possible. All this means that the facilities and scope offered by the civil defence headquarters are no longer appropriate for the task. We hope that several members of the group from over the years will be able to come to the final meeting so that they can be properly thanked for their service.’
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Notes to Editors:
1. You are invited to send a representative to the Trinity Road Civil Defence Headquarters Bunker for the decommissioning meeting – 6.30 pm Thursday 28 June.
2. For further information before the decommissioning event, please contact Emergency Planning Officer Michael Long (612556).
3. Some of the Early Warning Group’s founder members will attend on Thursday, including Brian Le Cornu, who has served for 47 years.
4. At its busiest time, there were 50 members in the group, more recently numbers declined to 20. They were trained in radio communications, casualty, public relations, map reading and nuclear fall out procedures. They attended fortnightly training sessions between October and March.
gov.je