Flying into nuclear mushroom clouds (201)

Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times

Ian Sanders

Documentary, History, Society & Culture

4.8 • 865 Ratings

🗓️ 24 September 2021

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Squadron Leader John Robinson AFC (ret’d) was an RAF pilot who was tasked to fly into the mushroom clouds of nuclear bomb tests to capture samples at Operation Buffalo at Maralinga in 1956, and Operation Grapple, at Christmas Island in 1957. He tells of his recruitment into RAF, initial training and his cloud sampling missions as well his experiences of watching the tests from as little as five miles away. It is reckoned that over 22,000 British servicemen participated in the British and American nuclear tests and clean-ups between 1952-1965, along with scientists from the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment and civilians. The majority of men have passed away, and around a tenth of the men remain. I was honoured that the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association (BNVTA) invited me to their annual reunion and enabled me to capture some of their veterans’ stories. I could really use your help to support my work and enable me to continue producing the podcast. If you become a monthly supporter, you will get the sought after CWC coaster as a thank you and bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a financial contribution is not your cup of tea, then you can still help us by leaving written reviews wherever you listen to us as well as sharing us on social media. It really helps us get new guests on the show. I am delighted to welcome John Robinson to our Cold War conversation… There’s further information including videos on this link https://coldwarconversations.com/episode201/ If you can’t wait for next week’s episode do visit our Facebook discussion group where guests and listeners continue the Cold War Conversation. Just search Cold War Conversations in Facebook. Thank you very much for listening. It is really appreciated – goodbye. Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations 0:00 Introduction and Squadron Leader John Robinson's Cold War journey 2:03 Sponsor: Cold War Conversations' Patron Support 4:13 John Robinson's early career and Cold War aircraft training 15:11 Special duties in Australia and encounter with atom bombs 28:30 The mission into the mushroom cloud and gathering radiation data 34:33 Life in Christmas Island and preparations for larger weapons 45:52 Post atom bomb missions and John's illness 48:19 John Robinson's radiation exposure and journey back home 52:04 High altitude sampling and ditching the aircraft plan 53:42 Closing remarks by Ian Sanders and appreciation for patrons 54:50 Cold War Conversations store reminder Table of contents powered by PodcastAI✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Cold War Conversations, the home of real stories of the Cold War.
0:05.0	They're enjoying themselves too much on the airfield.
0:08.0	Get all that aircrew up here to come and observe this from five miles away.
0:13.0	Five miles away from atom bomb, you've got to be joking. No.
0:17.0	And to this day, I can still see the skeleton of my fingers through the hole, through that
0:24.3	flat, when that flash went off. Absolutely incredible. You wouldn't have believed it.
0:31.8	This is Cold War Conversations. Thanks to Patreon Simon Smith for today's intro.
0:41.1	If you're new here, you've come to the right place to listen to first-hand Cold War
0:45.5	history accounts.
0:46.7	Do make sure you follow us in your podcast app so that you don't miss out on future episodes.
0:52.7	Squadron leader John Robinson was an REF pilot who was tasked to fly into the mushroom
0:58.9	clouds of nuclear tests to capture samples at Operation Buffalo at Maralinga in 1956 and Operation
1:08.2	Grapple at Christmas Island in 1957.
1:11.6	He tells of his recruitment into the RAF initial training and his cloud sampling missions,
1:17.6	as well as his experiences of watching the tests from as little as five miles away.
1:24.6	It is reckoned that over 22,000 British servicemen participated in British and American
1:32.2	nuclear tests and cleanups between 195, along with scientists from the atomic weapons research
1:40.4	establishment and civilians. The majority of men have passed away and only around a
1:46.3	tenth of them remain. I was honoured that the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association
1:52.6	invited me to their annual reunion and enabled me to capture some of their veterans stories.
2:01.1	Now, I could really use your help to support my work
2:05.5	and enable me to continue producing the podcast.
	...

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