Atomic Weapons Tests—Operations Antler, 2 and 3

The meteorological team for the Antler series comprised Henry Phillpot as leader, Errol Mizon, Bob Southern, a Canadian meteorologist and about eight observers, some of whom worked on the range before the explosion near ground zero, making pilot balloon observations.

The meteorologists also had observations made from Shackleton aircraft over the Great Australian Bight to assist their forecasts. Conditions in which winds were light near ground level often made forecasting difficult, particularly with regard to safety of the fallout around ground zero. The British team of scientists continued to make predictions of local fallout and height reached by the atomic cloud, the forecast for Antler 1 being accurate. The forecast for Antler 2 predicted a base of the atomic cloud at 9 100 feet and top at 14 000 feet, whereas the base was 17 500 feet and top 24 600 feet. These errors in the British scientific team's predictions made it difficult for the AWTSC to decide whether fallout was likely to cause hazardous conditions for the Australian population.

Henry Phillpot and Bob Southern appear to be the Bureau staff having the longest period of service with the range of tests. Bob says he spent six months away from his home in Perth participating in the Mosaic and Buffalo series in 1956 and another six weeks in the Antler series in 1957. In addition, after posting to the Central Analysis Office in Melbourne, he spent two months at Maralinga for minor trials, described in later paragraphs.

Bureau of Meteorology