Atomic Bomb

November 22, 2021

Urban Exploring: The Birthday Bunker

South Australia at War

World War 2 began when Nazi Germany invaded Poland on 3 September 1939.

South Australian Premier Tom Playford lobbied the federal member of munitions and the minister of munitions for government defense contracts.

Adelaide’s advanced motor vehicle industry and the facilities of the South Australian Railway Workshops made South Australia an ideal site to manufacture complex munitions equipment.

War production in South Australia

Urban Exploring The Birthday Bunker — Awesome Adelaide — A 1942 card from the papers of Audrey Symons, who worked at the factory during World War Two. (Source: State Library of SA)

Three major government facilities were built. The Hendon Ammunition Factory — built to manufacture small arms ammunition. Finsbury Munitions Factory — shell casings, cartridge cases, and fuses. The Salisbury Explosives Factory filling components with explosive powder.

Secret underground telecommunication installations like the Doomsday Bunker, the RAAF Remote Semi-Underground Bunker, and The Bomb Shelter were built around the state to aid in communication and to intercept enemy messages.

The Sleeps Hill Railway Tunnels were converted into ammunition bunkers and storage vaults for the states treasures.

Air Raid Shelters like the Prospect Air Raid Shelter and the Islington Air Raid Shelter were constructed to aid in communication and provide shelter from enemy bombardment.

Home-made bunkers like The Clarice Bunker, The Jackson Bunker, The Family Fallout Shelter and Pharaoh’s Tomb were built for individual, family and town protection from attack and radioactive fallout.

Aircraft like The McDonald’s West Lakes Party Plane were re-purposed as supply planes.

Fort Largs and Fort Glanville were built to defend the city of Adelaide against attack.

Numerous rural bunkers were built to store ammunition and fuel.

The Birthday Bunker

Since 2015 we’ve been exploring one such pre-Cold War era bunker. Long abandoned by the Australian Defence Forces, it sits out-of-sight; hidden below-ground, in rural South Australia.

Its new owner turned the bunker into a ‘man cave’ and recreation room. Complete with a stove, an oven, seating, bunk-beds and large firepit — everything required for an all-night bender.

Walls and ceiling are decorated with West End, Strongbow, and Coca-Cola signage. Artwork of Simpsons characters line the walls wishing family members ‘happy birthday’ and ‘well wishes’ on their special day.

We can only imagine the excessive alcohol consumption that has occurred here and the life long memories forged in such an impressive place…

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June 25, 2017

Urban Exploring: The Family Fallout Shelter

The Cold War (1947 – 1991)

After World War II (1945), the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War. The two superpowers never engaged directly in full-scale armed combat, but they were heavily armed for the possibility of all-out nuclear world war.

“The Atomic Bomb and the End of the World” book cover (1945).

The US and the Soviet Union both started rocket research programs based on German wartime designs. Both countries developed intercontinental ballistic missiles designed for nuclear weapons delivery.

The United Kingdom was the third country in the world to develop and test a nuclear weapon. Its programme was motivated to have an independent deterrent against the Soviet Union.

Between 1952 and 1957, the United Kingdom conducted 12 major nuclear weapons tests in Australia . These explosions occurred at the Montebello Islands in Western Australia, and at Emu Field and Maralinga in South Australia.

On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union showed the world that they had missiles able to reach any part of the world when they launched the Sputnik satellite into Earth orbit.

Pine Gap

In 1966, the Australian Government entered into an agreement with the United States of America: the Pine Gap Treaty, to establish a joint defense space research facility at Pine Gap, NT.

Run by both Australia and the United States, it allows access to satellites to spy on every country except Antarctica and America. It provides early warning detection of ballistic missile launches, and also contributes to and collects data used for US drones.

“It provides intelligence on priorities such as terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and foreign military capability and weapons developments” — Defence Department spokesman.

Groups such as the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network argue Pine Gap and its value to the US makes Australia a target.

Fallout

The fear of many Adelaide families in the 60’s and 70’s was radioactive fallout.

During a nuclear explosion, matter vaporized in the explosion becomes radioactive. Weather conditions can then transport this radioactive material over vast distances. When the material condenses into rain, it falls back to earth, subjecting anything it touches to radiation.

Adelaide Shelters

Editorial picture of a Family Fallout Shelter. Source: GETTY IMAGES.

The only way South Australians knew how to protect themselves against nuclear fallout was to build underground shelters. The most favored material for fallout shelters was concrete and were generally built under the rear patio/courtyard of the family home. Often they were connected to the living-room by means of a trap-door, like the one we discovered in 2015: The Clarice Bunker.

Most fallout shelters that were constructed in Adelaide during the Cold War era have either been re-purposed or filled in, but some still exist underground…