Emu Claypan 2006 showing some of the roads and the airstrip constructed as part of project X200.©
The infrastructure project was conducted in a great hurry. The Totem test was decided upon late 1952. The reason for the Totem series of atomic explosions was to test two small yield weapons under deveopment to use fuel reprocessed from spent reactor fuel from an atomic power station. Britain's only test prior to Totem was called Hurricane; it was conducted on 3 October 1952. (apart from considerable input into the atomic explosions of WW2)
Hurricane was exploded 9 feet below sea level inside a destroyer, HMS Plym, anchored near an island in the Monte Bello group off Western Australia. Being hidden inside a ship and below sea level it would have not given certain information about the early stages of the explosion.
The Emu, X200 infrastructure included a village, airstrip, roads, leveling the ground, erecting various buildings to house the weapons, underground equipment shelters, towers to mount camera equipment at three sites, associated buildings for control of the cameras, developing film, supply of water and electricity at each site, provision of water from bores and distillation of bore water. Many miles of roads were constructed. Substantial work site villages were constructed 4 miles from the weapons test area. Meteoroligical services were provided by Australia. The RAAF provided air transport within Australia.
Emu Claypan 2006 showing some of the roads and the airstrip constructed as part of project X200.©
Len Beadell describes his first meeting with Brigadier Lucas on page 54 of his book "Blast the Bush".
"one of the most genuine, fair, and wonderful men" "Brimful of bush humour, with twinkling blue eyes and steel wire moustaches...he seemed to have the air of a gentle and kindly old grandfather".
Leonard Cuthbert Lucas was born in Townsville, Queensland on 6 November 1894. He enlisted in the army 7 weeks before ANZAC day 1915. He rose to Captain 2nd Division Signal Coy, 1st AIF, gaining the Military Cross in WW1. He was working as an architect in Sydney when he again enlisted at Lane Cove on 2 April 1940. He served under General Blamey as a Colonel in Engineers in Greece. The Australian army was then pushed out of Greece and Crete by the German army.
The Japanese threatened Australia at the end of 1941. The Australian army returned to defend home. From 1942 until the war's end Lucas worked for General Blamey in Brisbane, possibly as second in charge of army engineers. He was discharged from the army on 17 December 1945 with the rank of Colonel according to the nominal WW2 roll. However according to Gavin Long's book he was Colonel and later as Brigadier. In 1952 he was working with the Public Works Department in Perth W.A., from there he became the X200 infrastructure project manager.
Brigadier Lucas would have begun his project by finding personnel, equipment and material resources for his project. The Royal Australian Army provided 68 constructional personnel for 8 months. largely from 7 Independent Fd Sqn and 17 Construction Sqn. The Royal Australian Air Force provided a similar sized contingent from No 5 Airfield Construction Squadron, "The Flying Shovels".
A short-wave radio communications link from Emu to Woomera was provided by the army. For security, messages were sent in code, no mention was made of Woomera, callsigns were changed weekly.
In Februrary 1953 Lucas was part of an Australian mission that went to Britain. They arrived to a cocktail reception on Friday 6 Feb. On Monday 9thThe first official meeting was held at Fort Halstead, about 20 miles S.E. of London, the headquaters for Sir William Penney's atom bomb project.
At Emu, he was universally liked. He was a religious man who would quote from bible.
The Department of Supply seemed to have the major role of running the infrastructure project. The Department of Works sourced the equipment such as graders, folk lift vehicles, generators, air conditioners, rippers, welders, trucks, even the towers on which the weapons were tested. The Department of Supply head office was Jensen House, 339 Swanston St Melbourne.
The New Zealand born Chief Scientist for Department of Supply, Alan Butemont, (pronounced beaut-mont) was a radio, electronics and radar visionary ahead of his time. Alan lived about 5 miles from Jensen House in leafy suburban Kew, just up the hill from Kew Junction. Jensen House was an easy car or tram ride from Kew.
Two friends of mine remember him as a large man with a moustache, who attended a meeting of The Wireless institute of Australia when radio amateurs were first thinking about the posibility of bouncing radio signals off the moon. Alan advised them to not use parabolic dish but to use an antenna made up of wire elements. Alan is listed as having amateur radio station VK3AD until 1990. I am told he was active in the Radio Amateur Old Timer's Association until his sudden death.
The Department of Works and Housing had offices at; 225 Burke St., Melbourne; 82 Pitt St., Sydney and 97 King William St, Adelaide. Much of the equipment used at Emu came from Melbourne and Sydney. The equipment then was transported to Woomera. Some equipment went missing in transit, for example two diesel generators were dispatched from Melbourne by rail, but only one arrived on time.
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| Department of Works had an office involved with X200 project in this bank building at 97 William St Adelaide | Is this the only atomic test site office ever in the form of a money box? The bank issued a money box in the form of a miniture head office |
The Savings Bank of S.A. head office doors opened to the public at 10 am on 2 Feb. 1943, after the building was officially opened by The Governor of South Australia, His Excellency Sir Malcom Barclay-Harvey. The building is only a 5 minute walk from Government House.
At the same time as the bank was being opened, a future Governor of South Australia and atomic bomb visionary, Professor Marcus Oliphant was heavily involved with the development of the first atom bombs. Marcus was Professor of Physics at Birmingham and also worked on atomic bomb development there and in the USA.
This building was reproduced as money-box tins to encourage the children of South Australia to deposit their coins in the bank.
All the buildings above are fine examples of Art Decco style of architecture.
Machinery such as fork lifts and a 3½/5 ton Fowler mobile crane were purchased with the condition that "This machine should be demountable into components not exceeding 2 tons each all-up weight and not exceeding 58" by 58" by 16'." I assume this speciication allowed the crane to be air-ffreighted to Emu. The largest truck and crane at Emu were each 5 tons capacity, the weapons and associated transport frame weight apparently did not exceed 5 tons.