The story of Australia’s ‘atomic tank’
It’s believed a Centurion tank sitting in front of the 1st Armoured Regiment is the only tank in the world to survive a nuclear blast and then go into combat.
CAPTION: From left, former crew members of Centurion 169041, Barry Hodges, Graham Munsell and Ray Arthur out the front of 1st Armoured Regiment at RAAF Base Edinburgh. Story by Corporal Jacob Joseph. Photo by Chris and Jan Fenton.
Nicknamed the “atomic tank”, Centurion 169041 was parked just 400 metres from a nine-kiloton blast during secret nuclear tests in 1953.
Not even 169041’s subsequent driver, Barry Hodges, knew about its history as he navigated the Centurion across Vietnamese fields in 1969.
Flicking through the pages of a military history book years later, you can imagine his surprise when he saw the very tank he crewed in combat being driven away from ground zero of British nuclear testing in the South Australian outback.
“I thought, ‘bloody hell’. I’ll never forget it,” Mr Hodges said.
“First I rang Graham (Munsell), my crew commander, he hadn’t heard about it either.
“It’s sitting out there at 1st Armoured Regiment in Edinburgh, and nobody knew it was the atomic tank.”
It turns out the story of the atomic tank was at risk of being lost to time. That’s until Mr Hodges spent years researching and writing about its history.
Now he hopes to raise awareness about the tank so the legacy of those connected to it is not forgotten.
“It means a lot to me. Hopefully we can raise some money for the tank because it needs a bit of TLC at the moment,” Mr Hodges said.
In the open and red country of South Australia, flat as far as the eye can see, sit two small concrete block monuments.
More than 70 years ago, these sites at Emu Field were ground zero for British nuclear testing.
CAPTION: Centurion 169041 in position at Emu Field, South Australia, before the atomic blast, with the bomb tower in the distance. Photo by Mike Cecil, Australian War Memorial.
The UK tested 12 bombs between 1952 and 1957; two at Emu Field, seven at Maralinga 200km south, and three off the WA coast.
Codenamed Operation Totem, the Emu Field tests were designed to glean how much plutonium could be used in a bomb, but also to test the effects of blast damage and fallout on tanks and aircraft.
With less than 500 miles (800km) on the odometer, Centurion 169041 was ordered to the test site where it was sealed up and left idling.
The shockwave pushed the 50-ton tank back about five feet, the side plates were blown clear, antenna stripped and optics sandblasted.
Three days later, the 1st Armoured Regiment troopers refuelled and drove the “still slightly radioactive” tank back to Woomera.
A 1985 Royal Commission into the nuclear tests found the troopers had an increased risk of cancer because of radiation exposure and lacked the proper safety equipment for such a journey.
The four crew who travelled to Emu Field to recover the tank in1953 died in the following decades.
There were no movement orders or records of the troopers’ involvement in recovering the tank when investigators looked into the case in 1985.
Soldiers armed with rifles and fixed bayonets guarded the tank around the clock when it returned to Puckapunyal until it was refurbished and scrubbed clean of radiation.
CAPTION: 1st Armoured Regiment B Squadron Centurion tanks in Vietnam, 1969, with the ‘atomic tank’ in the centre. Photo by Barry Hodges.
1st Armoured Regiment was deployed to Vietnam, where B Squadron joined the fray in 1968.
Centurion 169041 was commanded by then-Corporal Graham Munsell for the majority of its service in Vietnam.
On May 7, 1969, the troop was ambushed by Viet Cong after one of their tanks triggered a mine.
In the following commotion, an enemy RPG struck the side of the tank between the track and the running board, the molten jet penetrating the hull, narrowly missing the ready-round bins containing high-explosive ammunition.
The fragments hit two of the crew, one in the legs and feet, injuring him badly enough to take him out of the fight.
Barry Hodges joined the crew soon after the engagement.
“It was just a beautiful tank, the first to have stabilised gunnery – state of the art,” Mr Hodges said.
“It was a bloody tough job driving those things. Even when you were in contact you couldn’t close the hatches, it was just too hot and humid.
“The infantry loved having us around. The enemy disappeared if they knew the tanks were coming.
“It’s not worth sticking around and trying to battle it out when there’s a 20-pounder looking down your neck.”
Their final combat mission came in late December, when the troop went on a two-day road run around Long Hai Hills.
CAPTION: Then-trooper Barry Hodges in the driver’s compartment in Vietnam, 1969. Photo by Graham Munsell.
A few months later, the tank was sent back to Australia and put into storage, later making appearances at parades.
Today, 169041 holds ground out the front of the 1 Armoured Regiment lines at RAAF Base Edinburgh, close to the spot where it would have passed more than 70 years ago when the convoy travelled through the base on the way to Emu Field.
In 2018, former crew commander Mr Munsell and driver Mr Hodges donated money for a plaque that lists the history of Centurion 169041.
Their work is continuing its legacy, along with those who served with the ‘Atomic Tank’.
Anyone interested in making a donation for the refurbishment of the tank should contact secretary@paratus.org.au
CAPTION: Centurion 169041 on a trailer after the nuclear bomb blast. Photo by Mike Cecil, Australian War Memorial.
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