Maralinga tests

[Tony Smith]

The Centurion which was subjected to the first Atomic tests on Australian soil in 1953 at Emu Claypan, at the sites called Totem 1 and Totem 2, was called "Total Recall". Indeed it was refurbished (3 times)and went to Vietnam and now resides at 1 Armd Regt barracks in Darwin. In the 1953 picture above, the Cent has something fitted to the muzzle of the barrel. I'm sure all Aussie Cents were fitted with 20pdr guns, but this looks like an original 17pdr?

Keefy also ought to know about the P-51 Mustangs that were part of Totem 1. 4 Mustangs were flown into the site and parked at ranges from 4 to 12 miles from the ground zero. After the blast, they were deemed contaminated and left at the site. Two of the Aircraft were recovered by warbird enthusiasts in the '70s. Where are they now?

An interesting piece of information for those old enough to remember aluminium toothpaste tubes. Racks of a dozen new tubes without the ends closed and crimped were set up at intervals of 400yds from the blast to a distance of 20 miles to record the pressure of blast. The soft aluminium was easy to distort and would provide a visual record of the intensity of the blast pressure wave.

Photo of 169041 from Army Magazine