The Secret of Emu Field: Britain's forgotten atomic tests in Australia

by Elizabeth Tynan

Emu Field is overshadowed by Maralinga, the larger and much more prominent British atomic test site about 193 kilometres to the south. But Emu Field has its own secrets, and the fact that it was largely forgotten makes it more intriguing. Only at Emu Field did a terrifying black mist speed across the land after an atomic bomb detonation, bringing death and sickness to Aboriginal populations in its path. Emu Field was difficult and inaccessible. So why did the British go there at all, when they knew that they wouldn’t stay? What happened to the air force crew who flew through the atomic clouds? And why is Emu Field considered the ‘Marie Celeste’ of atomic test sites, abandoned quickly after the expense and effort of setting it up? Elizabeth Tynan, the award-winning author of Atomic The Maralinga Story , reveals a story of a cataclysmic collision between an ancient Aboriginal land and the post-war Britain of Winston Churchill and his gung-ho scientific advisor Frederick Lindemann.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

368 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2022

Reviews

[Darren Gore · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Secret Of Emu Field is another compelling yet unsettling work about the shameful history of atomic-weapons testing in Australia.

Elizabeth Tynan provides a detailed and highly-readable account of the Operation Totem tests of late 1953, which were set up at great effort and expense under much secrecy...but poorly executed with little concern for involved personnel and the local civilian population (to say the very least), and quickly shut down not long after.

Why Operation Totem was quickly shut down remains a source of speculation to some. It may or may not be a mystery - but partly because some elements of Operation Totem are still classified to this day, that is only one of several questions about this sinister project that have yet to be fully and satisfyingly answered.

Operation Totem should never have happened in the first place, but The Secret Of Emu Field can help ensure the likes of it will never happen again.

[Andrew Bysterveldt · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent book about the Emu Field atomic tests. Once again, governments using national security to secretly harm their own people. I’d give it more stars but it was a bit scientific and detailed for me. But if you are a science or history or military minded person, it’s a great read.

[Joy Ashwell Callaway · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.
Repetitive in places, but overall a horrifyingly interesting read.
This book helps to ensure the secret of Emu Field is a secret no longer!

[Rhonda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up from the library to get an insight into something I knew little about (but know about Maralinga). But I really couldn't get into it. For a book about a little known secret site, I was expecting a decent map showing exactly where it was relative to other known places. There was only one map, which hardly had anything relevant on it. I didn't understand the structure of the book. Presumably most people are interested in this because of the dangers of atomic testing (which were kept hidden for good reason) but this book doesn't come out and say clearly what the likely health impacts were and are. The story needs to be told, but perhaps a feature article may have worked better than a whole book.

[Frances Nielsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this a fascinating description of the atomic tests at Emu Field and the aftermath. Read together with 'Atomic Thunder' by the same author, the books shed light on the tests at Emu Field and Maralinga. Both books also cover the appalling neglect of the Indigenous people in the area and the people who worked on the test programs, and the disastrously inadequate clean-up.
Well worth reading.

[Don Keast · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the best researched books ever written. Elizabeth Tynan has done an amazing amount of research to uncover the long-hidden details of the British Atomic tests conducted at Emu Field in the vastness of the South Australian desert.

The result is a jaw-dropping saga of incompetence, miscalculations, a total disregard for Indigenous (and other) inhabitants and rampant paranoia. Then there are the lies. Lies to the Australian government, copious lies to the press, lies to the assisting Australian researchers, and a stretched version of the truth with the Americans.

This a fascinating chronicle, but not an easy read. Every page has reveals, many of them both surprising and depressing. This was a time when knowledge about atomic weapons was in its infancy and many assumptions were wrong and secrecy abounded. The Americans (who had conducted more above-ground tests) lost interest in hosting the tests or assisting when they discovered a British spy in the Pentagon. This didn't, however, stop them bidding for Australian uranium when new stocks were discovered a few years later.

Anyone interested in the Australian pre-Maralinga atomic testing should read this book.

[Huw Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alarming and disturbing read. Well written, balanced and well researched. An important part of British and Australian history where mistakes were made in the post WWII nuclear race with huge long term consequences.

[Chanel Baron · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so hoping this would be an interesting description of secret nuclear weapons testing, but it was so poorly told it was miserable to read. The facts are presented in a random way and the story seems to be told as just a collection of data gathered. Very disappointing.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but rather disjointed book. Although I thought it dealt with the Aṉangu well, it often went into imo slightly stupid tangents in its effort to tar the british — is an Australian soldier getting a slap on the wrist for pinching a radio really a crime comparable to the nuclear devastation? Weird compulsion to defend white Australia throughout.