Australian Participants

In 2001, the Australian Department of Veterans' Affairs published a preliminary nominal roll of members of the Australian Defence Forces (ADF), and Australian civilians who participated in the British Atomic Tests programme, conducted in Australia from 1952 to 1963. It contained 16,716 names. This list has now been removed following advice from their legal team.

Background

The British atomic testing programme in Australia initially involved the detonation of a total of twelve nuclear devices over the period from 3rd October 1952 to 9th October 1957. The tests were carried out in the Monte Bello group of islands off the coast of Western Australia and at Emu Field and Maralinga in the South Australian desert. A series of ‘minor’ nuclear trials were then conducted at Maralinga and these continued until 1963.

The twelve major nuclear explosions were carried out under five separate ‘operations’. They are listed below with the date and local time of their detonation in chronological order:

Operation HURRICANE (1 bomb) - Monte Bello Is.

1. 3/10/1952 (0800 WAST)

Operation TOTEM (2 bombs) - Emu Field

1. 15/10/1953 (0700 CST)

2. 27/10/1953 (0700 CST)

Operation MOSAIC (2 bombs) - Monte Bello Is.

1. 16/5/1956 (1150 WAST)

2. 19/6/1956 (1014 WAST)

Operation BUFFALO (4 bombs) - Maralinga

1. 27/9/1956 (1700 CST)

2. 4/10/1956 (1630 CST)

3. 11/10/1956 (1427 CST)

4. 22/10/1956 (0005 CST)

Operation ANTLER (3 bombs) - Maralinga

1. 14/9/1957 (1435 CST)

2. 25/9/1957 (1000 CST)

3. 9/10/1957 (1615 CST)

Contents (taken from a version of the original website)

The definition of an Australian 'Atomic Participant' for the purpose of this Roll is someone who was present, either working or as a visitor, in at least one of the testing areas whilst a test or tests were conducted in that area or were there within a 2-year period after the explosions.

Consequently, the records of those individuals who were present after the end of 1965 (e.g. the clean-up groups) have not been included. The names of 285 individuals whose records indicate that they visited or worked in one of the test areas post-1965 have been retained and stored separately by DVA.

The list of participants in this preliminary version includes 3,268 members of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), 1,657 members of the Australian Army and 3,201 members of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

The 8,590 civilians who have been included were Australian employees of firms contracted to construct, maintain and/or support the testing facilities as well as Australian public servants and Australian employees of semi-government organisations involved with the conduct of the testing programme, the nature of whose work required them to be in the area whilst the tests were carried out.

The records for ADF personnel in this printed version of the Roll consist of the full name and Service Number (where known) only and the full name only for the civilians. They are listed in alphabetical order within each of the four categories (RAN, Army, RAAF and Civilians). The complete Roll developed by DVA, from which this information has been extracted, contains other identifying detail such as Date of Birth, Date/Cause of Death (where known), Rank, Unit/Ship/Squadron, the relevant tests area and dates in the area (where known). Privacy considerations prevent the publication of certain personal details.

The Roll has been compiled by examining Department of Defence records (including ship lists of the involved HMA Ships, Routine Orders from the Army Units known to have been involved and identified RAAF Squadrons and Squadron members), personnel records of private firms engaged for the purposes of conducting and supporting the tests, the Report of the Royal Commission into Atomic Testing (1986) and records of the issue of Maralinga Security Cards. Documents prepared previously for the purposes of listing participants in the tests and other documents provided by the various 'nuclear veteran' Associations were also examined for any additional names and identifying details.

Some enhancement and refining of the Roll information was performed as a result of enquiries to DVA on the 'Atomic HotLine' since mid-June 2001. Duplicate records have been deleted where positive identification was able to be made.

The names on the Roll have also been checked against the list of radiation-exposed personnel compiled by JR Maroney in the Australian Radiation Laboratory document ‘Personal Monitor Records From Exposure To Beta And Gamma Radiation During Engagement In The Program Of British Nuclear Weapons Tests In Australia ’, dated 10/12/1984. It is important to note that, for the purposes of compiling this Roll, DVA had access only to the list of names and personal particulars contained in this document. Individuals radiation level records and other medical information that may have been in this document was neither obtained nor examined by DVA.

Where a name of an ADF member from the list in the Australian Radiation Laboratory document was not found on the Roll, and it was able to be verified against Department of Defence records, it was added to the Roll. Where a name from that list was able to be confidently matched with a record already on the Roll, additional identifying personal details from that list were included on the Roll.

The Australian Radiation Laboratory document’s list includes the lists of participants which are contained in the following documents:

• British Government's ‘Listing of persons at UK overseas defence nuclear experimental programmes, citizens of Australia’ (the 'Blue Book');

• Australian Health Physics listing of radiation exposure at Maralinga, prepared by the Department of National Development and Energy during 1981;

• ‘Radiological health during Operation HURRICANE (Monte Bello Is. October/November 1952) and Operation TOTEM (Emu Claypan, SA October/November 1953)’ Minute 1 December 1953 to Director General Medical Services (RAAF) from Sqn. Ldr. AD Thomas (Scientific Advisor to the Chief of the Air Staff).

Whilst every effort has been made to include the names and identifying details of all Australians who were present in each of the testing areas during or following the explosions, the length of time that has elapsed and the difficulty in locating and verifying authentic records means that the roll is missing some details and is likely to contain some errors. It is possible that some personnel have been incorrectly included or unintentionally omitted.

The Roll contains the names of ten aboriginal residents who were present in the testing areas. Obtaining a comprehensive list of aboriginal people who were exposed to the tests because they were in the area is extremely difficult. It is recognised therefore, that there are names of aboriginal people, who were in the area, that are missing from the Roll. This is partly because population information from the relevant communities (Yalata, Koonibba, Ernabella, Maralinga Tjarutja, Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjara, Wallatinna, Ngaanyatjarra, Marble Bar and Cundeellee) was not sought or obtained at the time of the testing programme and partly because the movement of indigenous people through the restricted area during the testing period, may not have been effectively policed.

Similarly, a lack of contemporary population information on the residents of pastoral properties, which may have included some aboriginal people, means that the Roll may not include that group if they were not included as part of the information in other documents.

Conclusion

The main question is why this list was removed. The Department for Veterans' Affairs has since created a new website with other Nominal Rolls but has not added this list to its website. A final list was published in book format and a copy is available in the Australian War Memorial Library - https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/LIB54676

This list will be invaluable to locate the participants who are eligible for the Nuclear Test Veterans Commemorative medal. I hope the Department for Veterans' Affairs in Australia has kept a searchable copy of the list and will make it available for potential recipients and their families to check.

LABRATS has obtained an electronic copy of the participants, should the Department for Veterans' Affairs be unable to locate theirs. If anyone in Australia would like us to check this preliminary roll for them, please contact us.