Brooke Davies
Published April 11, 2026 8:44pm
Updated April 11, 2026 8:44pm
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The Government War Book, which was in place throughout both world wars and the Cold War, is being produced again(Picture: National Archives)
A war book which dates back to World War One could be revived, the head of the armed forces has said.
The Government War Book, which was in place throughout both world wars and the Cold War, may be produced again after it was discontinued in the early 2000s.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton has argued for its resurrection to help prepare the public for war.
Inside would include detailed procedures on how to shut schools, clear hospitals, ration food and even protect national treasures.
Plans to mobilise military and civilians will also be included, as well as lessons learnt from the Cold War, but reframed to apply to modern society.
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Sir Knighton argued that civilians need to be aware of increasing threats to peace.
Why does the government want to re-distribute the war manual?
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton (Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images)
He said: ‘That requires us to educate ourselves and help the population understand some of those threats and help them understand what they can do to support the nation and potentially support the armed forces.
‘I talked before Christmas of the need for – when we think about renewing our water infrastructure or electricity or transport infrastructure – thinking about the threat of action from an adversary that is above the threshold of war, not just a hybrid threat.
‘And think about how we build in that resilience as we renew it and that requires making some different choices and different priorities and that work that the Cabinet Office is doing across the whole of government is something that I really welcome.’
‘We have to get ready for large-scale conflict’
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Previous Page Next PageIt comes as opposition politicians and experts have warned the UK is not ready for a wider war.
Dr Rob Johnson, director of the Changing Character of Conflict Centre at Oxford University, told Sky News Russia is on the cusp of launching military operations against Nato.
China is also taking steps to attack Taiwan, which would bring Western powers into the conflict.
Trump has also repeatedly threatened to leave Nato, which Sir Keir Starmer said Nato ‘is the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen’.
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The president said that the US’s membership of the security partnership was ‘beyond reconsideration’.
He added: ‘I was never swayed by Nato. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way.’
General Jennie Carignan, Canada’s military chief, has also urged the West to ‘get ready for large-scale conflicts’.
She told Sky News: ‘The world has changed. We have to get ready for large-scale conflicts, more conventional, so we need a different military to do that and different capability.’
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