Research Background
Paul's reason for beginning his investigations into the history around Operation Hurricane is personal: his late grandfather, Flight Lieutenant Ron Grace RAAF, was a pilot who flew security patrols around the Montebello Islands before the test and 'coastal monitoring sorties' (looking for fallout on the mainland) afterwards.
When Paul began researching his grandfather's role, he found that there were no full-length histories of Operation Hurricane written from an Australian perspective, while British accounts downplayed the dangers of radiation and excluded Australian participants. Eventually, it became clear that if he wanted to read an Australian book about Operation Hurricane, he would have to write it himself.
history_edu
Areas of Expertise
Cold War Nuclear War Nuclear Weapons Veterans' Oral Histories Australian Military History