Maralinga: The Chilling Expose of our Secret Nuclear Shame and Betrayal of our Troops and Country. by Walker, Frank - 2014

Sydney: Hachette Australia, 2014. 1st ed.. Paperback octavo, very good condition, colour & black & white photos centre spread, corner rear cover little creased, minor edgewear. 340 pp. Frank Walker records a shocking and chilling account - with the fallout ongoing - that during the 1950s to 1960s, with the blessing of Prime Minister Robert Menzies, the British government used Australia as its nuclear laboratory. They exploded 12 atomic bombs on Australian soil - at the Monte Bello (Montebello) Islands, Emu Field and Maralinga. About 16,000 Australian servicemen were guinea pigs. RAAF pilots were ordered to fly into nuclear mushroom clouds, soldiers told to walk into radioactive ground zero, sailors retrieved highly contaminated debris - none being aware of the dangers faced. But the betrayal didn't end with our soldiers. Secret monitoring stations were set up around the continent to measure radiation levels and a clandestine decades-long project stole bones from dead babies to see how much fallout had contaminated their small bodies - and their grieving parents were never told. First edition.