The Mobile Column

I was queuing outside Sainsbury's today and happened to look up and see this this plaque. I hadn't heard of the Mobile Column and so had a look at Google.
The Civil Defence Experimental Mobile Column was set up in 1953 to provide emergency aid to British towns in the event of a nuclear attack. This first Column was to be one of 100, covering the whole country. The Army and RAF agreed to provide men, many of whom were conscripts who would spend the second year of their National Service in the Column, after undergoing intensive training.
A site for the Column's HQ was found in Kiln Lane in Epsom, Surrey. The Mobile Column was sent on exercises across the whole of the UK, where personnel were able to demonstrate their rescue skills in many simulated disaster scenarios. For the most part they were accepted enthusiastically, but some claimed that any attempt at nuclear defence was a waste of resources which would be better directed elsewhere. The Column's visit to Coventry in 1954, in particular, was the target of protesters.
The government of the day decided not to expand the scheme and in December 1954 the Column was disbanded.
There is a book - We Blazed the Trail - which records the experiences of those who served within its ranks during the Cold War.