Events & Media | Paul Grace

article YouTube

Ep 4. Operation Hurricane

Once upon a time, it was necessary to have a weapon that could unleash hell. After American atomic scientists won the arms race, Britain was frozen out and d...

Published: Jul 2026

article news.com.au

70 years since UK tested nuclear bombs off WA

It has been 70 years since Britain conducted nuclear tests at the Montebello Islands off Western Australia’s northwest coast.

Published: Jun 2026

article LABRATS

Cavanagh’s Pirates by Bill Plewright

William Bryan (Bill) Plewright was born on 28 November 1929 in Bunbury, Western Australia. Bill worked as a brickie’s labourer before joining the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in 1947. He served in Occupied Japan with HMAS Bataan from 1948 to 1949 as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (...

Published: Apr 2026

article YouTube

Operation Hurricane

Russia and America had Nuclear weapons.Britain was eager to become a Nuclear Power.But where to conduct tests? Certainly not in Europe.America and Canada fla...

Published: Jan 2026

article Backyard Battlefields

Backyard Battlefields: Operation Hurricane: Britain's First Atomic Test

On October 3, 1952 Britain detonated an atomic bomb on the MonteBello Islands, 50 miles off Western Australia's Pilbara coast. This episode is Paul's first hand account of the test, its politics, personalities and implications for Australia.

Published: Nov 2025

article omny.fm

Operation Hurricane: A Story 70 Years in the Making - In Plain Sight by Vision Australia Radio

This week, Simon and Andrew are joined by Paul Grace, author of Operation Hurricane: the story of Britain's first atomic test in Australia and the legacy that remains, the fascinating story behind Australia’s first nuclear weapons test. Paul takes us on a captivating journey through the dramatic ev...

Published: Oct 2025

article LABRATS

MONTEBELLO EXPEDITION DIARY PART II by Paul Grace

At dawn on Day Two of our expedition to the Montebello Islands, the 80-foot charter vessel Two Seas emerged from the narrow channel between Hermite and Crocus islands and steamed south along the west coast of Hermite. We were heading for H1 Command Centre, scientific headquarters for three British n...

Published: Sep 2025

article LABRATS

MONTEBELLO EXPEDITION DIARY PART I by Paul Grace

At 5.00 pm on Friday 18 July 2025, the 80-foot charter vessel Two Seas weighed anchor at Dampier, Western Australia, and headed out into the Indian Ocean. For me and my fellow passengers, it was the culmination of months of planning, and the beginning of an extraordinary voyage: an eight-person mult...

Published: Sep 2025

article WAtoday

Those left behind: The long shadow of Britain’s nuclear testing in WA

The era of British atomic tests on West Australian soil has had enduring fallout. Now, the descendants of the servicemen exposed have made an emotional pilgrimage.

Published: Aug 2025

article YouTube

Nick's Knob: Atomic History, Western Australia

In 1952 journalists from "The West Australian" Newspaper camped on a remote Pilbara hill waiting for Britain's first atomic bomb to go off on the Montebello ...

Published: Aug 2025

article omny.fm

SRO's Damian Sheppard and Author Paul Grace, 03 August 2025 - Remember When with Harvey Deegan

Damian Sheppard- Director State Records and State Archivist State Records Office WA Paul Grace - Author of ‘Operation Hurricane’ – about the 1952 atomic bomb tests in the Montebello Islands, off Western Australia.

Published: Aug 2025

article WAtoday

They were on opposing sides at Hiroshima in 1945. Now, they’re campaigning together

Nearly 80 years after the US dropped an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima, two survivors warn of the catastrophic consequences of nuclear war.

Published: Jul 2025

article RTRFM

1000th Review! Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning and Universal Language with Special Guests Paul Grace and Matthew Rankin (Movie Squad Podcast #487) - RTRFM

No description available.

Published: May 2025

article Reading Matters

Triple Choice Tuesday: Paul Grace

Find out what trio of books have meant a lot to writer Paul Grace, whose first book was shortlisted for Book of the Year at the WA Premier’s Book Awards earlier this year

Published: Sep 2024

article militarybooksaustralia.com

Operation Hurricane: Britain’s First Atomic Test in Australia

“Operation Hurricane” by Paul Grace recounts Britain’s first atomic test in Australia in 1952, shedding light on the long-ignored consequences for the country. Grace’s perso…

Published: Dec 2023

article Australian Book Review

Elizabeth Tynan reviews 'Operation Hurricane: The story of Britain’s first atomic test in Australia and the legacy that remains' by Paul Grace

In April 1952, during the long voyage from Portsmouth around the Cape to the Montebello Islands off the coast of Western Australia, HMS Narvik and HMS Zeebrugge anchored at the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean. After a slow, lurching trip, the palmy islands and their azure seas were a tonic. There,...

Published: Sep 2023

article Newtown Review of Books

PAUL GRACE Operation Hurricane. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck - Newtown Review of Books

Paul Grace details the shameful conduct of British atomic testing in Australia and its toxic legacy In his new book Operation Hurricane.

Published: Aug 2023

article ABC listen

Blowing up the Montebellos - ABC listen

Working alongside J. Robert Oppenheimer, on the Manhattan nuclear project, was British scientist William Penney. Penney then copied that bomb and exploded it off the coast of Western Australia, on the Montebello Islands. It was the first of many British nuclear tests in Australia. Author Paul Grace ...

Published: Aug 2023

article ABC listen

How an atomic test still resonates in WA's north-west - ABC listen

Inspired by his grandfather, Paul Grace has dedicated the past five years to researching Operation Hurricane.

Published: Jul 2023

article RTRFM

Operation Hurricane: The story of Britain's first atomic test in Australia - RTRFM

When local author, Paul Grace, found his grandfather’s story of flying in post WWII experiments, he was pressed into sharing the compelling account of the first atomic test conducted by Britain off the North West Coast of Western Australia in October 1952. Operation Hurricane heralded Britain’s entr...

Published: Jul 2023