Fire across the Desert: Woomera and the Anglo-Australian Joint Project
Information about
'FIRE ACROSS THE DESERT:
WOOMERA AND THE ANGLO-AUSTRALIAN JOINT PROJECT, 1946-80'
(Canberra: AGPS, 1989, 1997; Canberra: DST e-book 2017)
ISBN 0 644 06068 9 (0 644 47500 5 paperback)
This material updated Jul 2021
Fire Across the Desert is the authoritative and official history up to 1980 of Woomera, the 'space town' in South Australia established by the Australian and British governments as a joint project. Its chapters deal with the social and domestic life of Woomera Village over the years, as well as with the technical work conducted at the Rocket Range which was the reason for its existence. Because it uses primary documents not in the public domain, Fire casts some surprising light on the political relations between Australia and the "Mother Country" in the early post-war period. It is written in a semi-popular style and is designed to appeal to the interested layman as well as academic historians.
As the commissioned author, I was given unfettered access to the relevant documents in both Australia and the UK, and for this purpose had a Top Secret security clearance from ASIO. The finished manuscript was vetted by both governments but the changes or deletions required to my text were very few and always on the grounds of national security or potential defamation. I never felt compromised as an historian and at no point was my freedom to form my own judgements and evaluations restricted. It follows that I am responsible for them all, even though some were and are contentious.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
The ‘2nd edition’ (which is really a photographic reprint of the first edition but virtually indistinguishable from it) has gone out of print. Many libraries hold a print copy of Fire. Use TROVE to locate one.
I sometimes get enquiries from collectors about buying the very rare hardback first edition. Note that these copies command a very high price. The first print run was small, around 1000 copies. If you are checking the price elsewhere, eg on Abebooks, be sure about what is for sale: is it really a first printing of the first edition?
Remember Fire was reprinted in December of the year of publication. Ask for an image of the publication data page. Be careful.
If you just want a reading copy, Fire is available as a free e-book, in several different formats, including all the illustrations. It may be downloaded at
https://www.dst.defence.gov.au/publication/fire-across-the-desert
The first chapter of Fire (Genesis of the Joint Project) is on this site as a sample of the approach and content.
I get many inquiries from historians and others who want to follow up particular projects or incidents at Woomera. I am always interested in hearing from bona fide historians or film-makers working on the Woomera story. However, virtually everything I know about the Joint Project is in the book and I no longer have the access I once had to classified files. Please note that I do not hold the copyright to Fire and cannot give formal permission to use images or text from the book for any purpose. As Fire is currently available as a free e-book download from Defence, I'm not sure what the copyright position is.
Nor can I help with access to the vast quantity of primary documents on which the book was based. After I completed the MS of Fire, many thousands of files were removed from the Registry at DSTO Salisbury and placed in the SA branch of the Australian Archives, where access to them is subject to the usual provisions. I understand many of the papers relating to the Joint Project (including those referring to the writing of the History itself) were subsequently returned to Salisbury but are still available on order through the SA Australian Archives. For an entirely personal view on the problems of accessing the relevant documents, click here.