The Atom Bomb

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Go out to Maralinga here in Oz, you can still see what is left of the testing site.
It was abandoned after the testing and looks like a town would after the bomb had been dropped.
Woomera is no different

John.
I think that is why so many kids in Aus have brain cancer, when the winds blow from Maralinga the atomic dust comes with it.
Just my thought.
Des

[happy daze john in oz]

Des you could well be right there.
It is one of the most desolate placers ever, and who knows what they left behind??

[Bill Morrison]

My Uncle worked on the Atom bomb at one stage, during the second world war, no idea what he was doing. He had a police guard outside his house 24\7. He was wounded in the leg in the first war so it was surprising to me now that he would do that kind of work. My Aunt, his wife and my two cousins were killed by one of the biggest bombs dropped during the raids on Swansea. When he died the Queen sent a coach and four black horses to carry him to the cemetery, where only men were allowed to see him off, my Dad being one of them.
Des

Hi Des. I watched a programme on TV this week called Abandoned Engineering (A great series ) It was of this abandoned site in Wales where in the 1940's they were conducting weapons research, very hush, hush. I can't find the programme on the internet, but this will shed some light what was going on there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._S._Factory,_Valley

Bil

[Fouro]

Don't forget the British had built and tested atomic bombs the same as those which were dropped on Japan, but they wanted to go one better and started building and testing hydrogen bombs on Christmas Island.

Fouro.

[j.sabourn]

Going back to 1962 and the official thoughts then I will repeat here what the course that I did , and others must have done also if they think back. As regards the war at sea it was the intention to keep the convoy system intact , but radio silence would be maintained throughout. . All the finer info, won’t go into , it in general when talking to the general public about atomic bombs most imagine a massive bang on contact with the ground , this even then as regards war at sea was not the case. They would be aerial blasts enough height to wipe out a whole convoy of ships , and their crews , the crews mainly by drawing all oxygen out of the air, any survivors of ships or crews the radiation would eventually kill them , and the only guard against this if didn’t have the protective suits of today, was by putting as many bulkheads between yourself and the outer air as possible a hanging blanket or sheet would do , and was your only chance of survival.
If the same method of bombing was done over the land I would imagine there would be less damage to buildings and edifices but the loss of live would be increased enormously. When it comes to use of nuclear weapons that was 60 years ago , and don’t particularly want to know survival methods and methods of deliverance of such weapons today. Cheers JS.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Bill.
Thanks for that, untill a few months ago I was unaware of my uncles or even Wales involvement in the Atom Bomb, my Aunt's granddaughter sent me a cutting all about him, maybe it's better the things you don't know, but I will read all about that in that forum, thanks very much.
Des

[happy daze john in oz]

Christmas island, now used to house illegal refugees who arrived in Oz by boat.
Has been used for that purpose for a number of years now.
Wonder if anyone there knows how it was used in the past?

[j.sabourn]

Last night for club members at the RAAFA bar was the usual Thursday night Happy Hour. Where a new resident of only 3 Days ago joined our table , he was a widower of only 12 months , Born in Scotland brought up in Liverpool and started his working life in Rhodesia . So was well versed in the Smith period of his period .The discussion got round to the Ukraine and from there went to the similar occurrence of the Cuban Crisis of 1962 , and what he knew of the circumstances of the same. He seemed to be surprised to know I knew as much as him about the reasons why and wherefore .He was a an ex lecturer in electronics and I couldn’t pin him down to what branch of the very broad subject but got a hint here and there it was as a government advisor in communications. People especially old people I always find interesting as a lot have a wealth of knowledge of the past , they are usually written off by younger know it alls, as silly old gits , although this one was a year younger than me. I hope he turns up next Thursday to the Happy hour , as we all learn from each other and being an ex lecturer is an excellent teacher. Cheers JS.......

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi John
You are right, I am amazed at the lack of knowledge the average young person of today has for anytime past the 70s, perhaps the Beatle mania robbed them of thought past the music. Simple questions on the TV quiz games seem to baffle them, maybe that is why we old cogrers like to talk to people of a more mature age.
Des

[j.sabourn]

A mind blowing one the other night was someone being asked the name of a State in the USA . Her answer was Mexico. I wonder what degree she had. ? JS
Re the bloke in Electronics I was referring to when working , he came under the Official Secrets Acts. That is one I never signed, if I had it may have left me open to certain statements I have made to others. I have found during my life , it is always best to speak the truth to the best of your ability, as long as it doesn"t hurt innocent parties. Cheers JS...