From the Archives: Cold War drill on Broadway
Los Angeles residents actively participated in World War II air-raid drills. But a 1952 Cold War air-raid drill had different results.
A page one story in the Oct. 3, 1952, Los Angeles Times reported that: “Failure of air raid sirens and general public apathy would have cost Los Angeles city and county 500,000 lives yesterday if enemy atom bombers actually had been overhead at 9:30 a.m.
“Partly because of the faint warning, partly because of lethargy and disinterest, an estimated 50% of the city and county millions failed to co-operate in the first full-scale public participation raid drill since World War II.”
The Times story reported that much of the city ignored the sirens and continued with their daily hustle and bustle. But as seen in the image above, pedestrians huddled in doorways on Broadway just south of 7th Street after Police Officer S.W. Stevenson announced the drill over a bullhorn.
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