What is "handel"

HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed.

If an enemy air strike was detected, a key on the left hand side of the console would be turned and two lights would come on. Then the operator would press & hold down a red button and give the message:

The message would be sent to the police by the telephone carrier wave frequencies used for the speaking clock, who would in turn activate the air attack sirens using the local telephone lines. The rationale was to kill two birds with one stone, as it reduced running costs (it would most likely be used only once in its working life, though it was regularly tested) and the telephone lines were under constant test by sharing with a public service. That means a fault could be detected in time to give a warning.

Message

How it's received

Action to be taken

Notes

Attack warning

Warbling note followed by message: "Attack warning RED!" This would be followed by a control signal, activating the powered sirens

Sound warning by activating sirens, the attack warning will be a rising and falling note.

Attack warning will be broadcast on all television and radio stations.

Fall out warning

High pitched pip signal followed by a spoken message. For example: "Fallout warning BLACK, London!"

Fire warning maroon (firework) three times. Though in some areas, it can be three gongs or whistles creating one long note followed by two short notes forming the morse note "D-".

Fall out warning will be broadcast on the radio.

Fall out expected within the hour

High pitched pip signal followed by spoken message. For example: "Fallout warning GREY, Canterbury!"

Sound siren producing one long note but interrupted in short succession. Can also be given by church bells or word of mouth from the police and civil defence wardens

Fell out of use by the late 1960s

All clear

High pitched pip signal followed by a spoken message: "Attack message WHITE!" A steady control tone will activate the powered ones.

Sound siren giving a steady note

Further warnings may be broadcast on radio, along with information on aid for survivors and morale boosting broadcasts (There was also a "confidence tone" that demonstrated the system was working and told you to stand by for a warning at any time).

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).

Handel usually refers to George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), a German/British Baroque composer.

Handel may also refer to:

Handel is a suite of programs for multiple sequence alignment. Since it is based on a model of DNA sequence evolution that explicitly incorporates insertion and deletion events, it effectively doubles as a program for ancestral sequence reconstruction.

The theory underpinning Handel is based on the finite state transducer, a concept borrowed from computational linguistics.

Handel can be downloaded as part of the DART software package. It accepts input files in Stockholm format.

Handel is a crater on Mercury. It has a diameter of 166 kilometers. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1976. Handel is named for the British-German composer George Frideric Handel, who lived from 1685 to 1759.

Handel is a surname of German origin. The word "Handel" means "trade" or "commerce" in German and as such has no plural form. The name (like the famous composer's and his father's) was originally rather spelled "Händel" (with umlaut) which as a plural noun means something like "affairs". "Händel" is also a southern German variant of "Händlein" which means "little hand". The surname was later, in English-speaking places, also used as a given name.