A civil construction company was used to carry out the work at main camp, but Murdo, as far as he knew, was the only civilian allowed near the forward areas where the bombs were to be tested.
The scientific staff began arriving in July 1956, flown straight into X200 rather than train via Watson Siding. Murdo’s services were increasingly in demand as teams of scientists demanded transport up to the forward areas to check out the lie of the land.
Murdo recalled the days with fondness: “I wasn’t worried about the bombs going off. In fact I was looking forward to seeing them. In the meantime I enjoyed driving round the desert and talking to the officers and I was interested in the preparations at ground zero in a place called One Tree, about 12 miles north of the town.
They had built a little town there where everything seemed to be in miniature. There were even dummies inside the houses to make it look as though real people were sitting at home having tea or a meal.”
Half-way through September 1956 there was a flurry of activity. Air traffic increased and there was a general air of expectation. Murdo was busier than ever ferrying assorted boffins out to One Tree and other sites. He remembered one man in particular. He arrived in the company of two very senior officers and an armed guard.
Murdo took a keen interest in the new arrivaclass="underline" “He was obviously a big-wig, the way they fussed around him. I learned later he was Sir William Penney, the top scientist, the man in charge of the whole shebang. He was pudgy, a bit on the heavy side, and he stood apart from the others.
“I remember him looking into the desert, the sunlight gleaming off his spectacles. It seemed to me he was lonely. But he must have had a sense of humour because there was a poster cartoon of him hanging in the officer‘s mess. It showed him carrying a little bag with the words, ‘atoms, plenty of ‘em’, written on the side.”
Penney’s arrival signalled the beginning of a series of four large atomic explosions between 27th September and October 22nd. The first, a Hiroshima-sized device detonated from a tower, was witnessed by Murdo from his Land Rover about 8 miles away. With him were two scientists, both clothed from head to toe in white protective overalls, complete with gas masks.
Murdo said: “I was dressed as I always was, short-sleeved shirt and shorts, but I didn’t think anything of it. I just thought, they must know what they are doing. I distinctly remember the ground shaking as the bomb went off. It was just after dawn and the sky was still dark, but suddenly the whole place lit up like it was noon.
“It was an amazing sight. I just stared at it open-mouthed. It was red and black and I remember thinking how dirty it looked. Funnily enough I wasn’t scared; I just marvelled at it.
“Even when I was told to drive toward the explosion, some time later, it didn’t twig that I might be in any danger. The mushroom cloud had dissipated by the time we arrived near ground zero. The scientists hopped out and very quickly collected some instruments and brought them back to the Jeep in special bags. Then I was told to high-tail it back to base. It was quite exciting.”
He spent most of the following day running different groups of personnel into the contaminated areas. The awesome power of an atomic explosion was all too evident as he drove around the scorched landscape, raising clouds of dust wherever he went.
Surplus cars, trucks and other equipment had been seared and twisted into almost unrecognisable shapes. He particularly remembered a Centurion tank that was fused into the red desert sand. Hastily constructed huts and concrete bunkers had been blasted out of existence. The desert near ground zero had been turned into a sea of glass, while a pall of sand and dust drifted about.
A task he took no pleasure in was helping round up the fear-maddened animals that had been tethered on the outer edges of the explosion area for the scientists to examine. Many of the unfortunate creatures, including rabbits, chickens, sheep and goats, had struggled free in their terror and had to be pursued across the smoking landscape. Those he did catch were in a pitiable condition, their eyes scorched from their sockets, flesh burned from their bones. All had to be bagged and taken back to base.
Later that day, Penney decided to view the bomb site. Murdo was assigned to drive him and his escorts into the contaminated area: “He was, of course, in full protective clothing like the rest of the scientists. He didn’t speak much to me, but he was very courteous. He asked me very politely if I wouldn’t mind taking him to a spot where he could have a good look at the crater. We stopped on the top of this hill about 300 yards away and he got out. He must have stood for an hour, binoculars in his hands, just staring down into the crater.”
Over the next four weeks Maralinga shook and rumbled to the tune of three more massive atomic explosions. The bombs were detonated soon after dawn, collection and retrieval of instruments and equipment just before noon. Later in the year scores of so-called ‘minor trials’ were held in which small nuclear devices were set off. These never made much of a bang, but the scientists seemed a lot more nervous when entering those areas.
Murdo wondered about that, as he wondered about a lot of things… like the strange and disturbing story he overheard about the human beings who had supposedly been brought up in a truck to within two miles of the fourth, and last, of the ‘big bang’s, at One Tree site.
This story was told by three Australian Sappers who arrived back from the range ashen-faced and in need of a drink. They had been checking instruments at One Tree when a truck had pulled up in an isolated spot away from all the activity. Just behind was a Land Rover containing two stern-faced civilians.
The driver of the truck jumped out and joined them in the following vehicle which then sped off back to the camp. The three Australians were curious and went over to have a look. As they got near they were stopped in their tracks by a cacophony of moans and howls emanating from the truck.
At first they thought the vehicle might contain animals, but all soon agreed the sounds came from human throats. ‘Unearthly sounds’ was how one of them described it. It made their hair stand on end, added another over a drink in the beer tent later.
The men got to within about 15-feet of the truck and could clearly see movement inside. But they decided not to investigate further; they were just too afraid of what they might find. Later when they returned to the area to collect their equipment, the truck was in the same place, but no sound came from it.
It was a disturbing tale, and one that gave Murdo a deep sense of unease. It wasn’t made any better when later the three Australians abruptly disappeared. According to one of the squaddies they had been sent for in the night and hadn’t been seen nor heard from since.
The incident added to the sense of gloom Murdo was beginning to experience about Maralinga. Other incidents only served to heighten this sense of foreboding. Like the day he found a dingo mother which had just given birth to six pups in the contaminated area.
None of the pups appeared to have any eyes and most were missing limbs. The mother, whose fur was hanging limply from her flanks, barked feebly at Murdo as he approached, but was too weak to run away. Murdo destroyed them and buried their bodies in the sand.
Then there was the time he came across a patrol that had a rounded up a small family of aborigines who had wandered into the prohibited zone. The little family, comprising three adults and two children appeared to be in a bad way. Their feet were cut and blistered and there were running sores on their legs. They were upset because the soldiers who found them had shot their two dogs.