This film documents 1963’s Operation Blowdown, an incredible test undertaken by Australia to determine what the effects of a nuclear detonation would be in a rainforest. For various reasons a nuclear device was not used, so the test (in the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland) relied on conventional explosives — 50 tons of TNT. Although today the test seems quite peculiar, at the time the “Atoms for Peace” initiative was being advanced by both sides in the Cold War and the idea that a nuclear device could be used to harvest trees for lumber en masse, certainly had its appeal.
A device containing 50 tons of TNT was detonated to partially simulate a ten kiloton air burst in the Iron Range jungle of the Cape York Peninsula. The explosives were sourced from obsolete artillery shells and placed in a tower 42 metres (138 ft) above ground level and 21 metres (69 ft) above the rain forest canopy. After the explosion, troops were moved through the area (which was now covered in up to a metre of leaf litter), to test their ability to transit across the debris. In addition, obsolete vehicles and equipment left near the centre of the explosion were destroyed.
The explosion was intended by the Robert Menzies government to test and examine the feasibility of air burst nuclear weapons for clearing forests and the use of mangled forests to slow troop movement in South East Asia, primarily Indonesia and Malaysia in the escalation of the time against Sukarno and the Konfrontasi Malay Emergency. There was also a view to use such techniques in the later Myanmar conflict and Vietnam War, which were simmering at the time. (from Wikipedia)
US participation included the establishment of pressure measurement equipment and the loan of photographic and instrumentation equipment.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
