Fire Across the Desert Woomera and the Anglo-Australian Joint Project 1946-1980
Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service Press, 1989. Quarto, navy-blue hardcover, gilt lettering on spine, xx, 576 pp., six double-sided plates; illustrated with black-and-white photographs, maps, graphs and illustrations throughout; one appendix included. Spine ends bumped, top edge of dust jacket worn; otherwise a near-fine copy. Reprint of first edition. A detailed history of one of the most secretive, costly and controversial projects in the history of post-war Australian. In the late 1940s, Wooomera and the Long Range Weapons Establishment were planned and built in the shadow of German V-Weapons, the deepening cold war and the fearful certainty that warfare was to be irrevocably changed by the advent of nuclear-armed ballistic missiles. The small village of Woomera in South Australia became host to the testing and development of many guided weapons and Jindivik target aircraft. It also saw the instrumentation and growth of the biggest land range in the western world. Later, in the 1960s, Woomera also saw the development of many space enterprises, including Australia's first and only home-built satellite, WRESAT.
Sponsored by Australia's Department of Defence, this volume is an authoritative account of the history of Woomera up to 1980. Item #4686
An inscription reads: 'Dear Dad, Happy Fathers Day "1992" lots of love from Debster xxxx'. A silver sticker on the lower-right corner of the free endpaper reads: From the Estate of Capt Alex Pedashenko RAAF MAP ARAES Australia and USA.
Price (AUD): $340.00