Woomera

In 1946 the area we now call Woomera was an uninhabited, treeless plateau except for the Pimba rail siding on the Transcontinental railway and Arcoona Station which was established in the late 1870’s, there was no reason to have anything else in such an inhospitable area.  Port Augusta was many hours away via a very rough dirt road or by train.  By Easter 1946 however, a survey team had been assembled to look for a site for a guided weapons test range for the British Government.  The site chosen was later appropriately named “WOOMERA” an aboriginal name for spear launcher.

An area designated as the Woomera Prohibited Area was declared which extended from the old Ghan railway west, almost to the border, along the Trans continental railway and extending north  to latitude 28deg. South, with an indent to allow for the town of Coober Pedy.  In all it encompassed some 270,000 sq km and contained the Maralinga and Emu atomic test sites.  Today the prohibited area has been reduced in size to 127,000 sq km (about the size of England) and areas such as Roxby Downs and Andamooka have been excised from the area.  The area now encompasses some 26 pastoral properties which run sheep to the south of the dingo proof fence and cattle to the north.

The need for such a place was driven by British memories of the battering they received from German V1 and especially the V2 rockets in 1944/45 and against which there was no practical defence.  Great Britain sought help from the Australian Government to develop their own capability.