Peter Broughton Tells the Story of Maralinga (continued)

Alan Ashton was a character who turned every subject into a joke. I remember we met one morning, walking in opposite directions along the road leading to the radiosonde hut. As I looked at the sky he remarked "what are you looking at?". "I'm just wondering what height to put down for the altocumulus in my observation" I replied. "What on earth are you worrying about" he said, "if its altocumulus I just put down 12,000 feet, after all, who's going to question it anyway". When I arrived at the radiosonde building to carry out the 3 pm observation I had to smile as I looked for the inversion on the morning radiosonde chart because this was where to find the height of the altocumulus, but later I would turn tables and the joke would be on Alan.

As time went by it became increasingly difficult to entertain ourselves in the evening and I suggested a little experiment if we could get four persons together around a table. "What are you going to do" Alan Ashton asked. "Have a glass-moving session" I replied. "What a lot of rubbish" Alan rejoined. "I'll guarantee I can read your mind" I said. "Rubbish!" said Alan. Ignoring his remarks I asked Dick Head and Phil Cardew, who were RAAF Flight Control Officers, if they would like to join Alan Holmes and I that night. "We'll do it just for fun" I said, "it can't do any harm and it will break the monotony for at least an evening". We all agreed to meet late that evening in the room I shared with Alan Ashton and Alan Holmes. Dick Head and Phil Cardew eventually came and we set up the characteristic alphabetic circle and found a small glass to act as a pointer. "Think of something Dick" I said. "Thinking" said Dick. Off went the glass and printed out a four letter word. "That's what you're thinking, Dick isn't it" I said. Dick got up and left the room. Now we were one member short but Alan Ashton continued to sit on his bed reading a book and would have nothing to do with it. "Rubbish!" he kept on mumbling. Undeterred, the three of us settled down to make the best of the evening by making the glass respond to simple questions. After awhile I could see Alan Ashton peering at us over his book. A thought struck me, "a message for Alan Ashton" said I quickly and off went the glass 'Johnny's on the railway line'. "Who's Johnny, Alan?" I asked. "Dunno" said Alan, "it could be Johnny at home next door; he's always climbing over the back fence and getting on the tram tracks at the back of our house". I could see that we had Alan's interest and knew I had to retain it. "Another message for Alan" I said. The glass moved again. 'You're going to be posted to Darwin' it spelt out. "No I'm not" shouted Alan angrily as he jumped up from his bed. We had found Alan's Achilles heel and later learnt that he had gone off to ring his wife in Adelaide to see if Johnny had strayed onto the tram track at the back of his house.

Bureau of Meteorology