THE 18 MISSING TEETH: NUCLEAR, CHEMICAL & BIOLOGICAL WARFARE DEVELOPMENTS IN AUSTRALIA THROUGH THE 1940s, PREVIOUSLY UNPUBLISHED DOCUMENTS & PHOTOGRAPHS

 

MOUNT PAINTER 1947

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THIS MAP WAS SOURCED HERE:

https://nuclear.australianmap.net/

As most would know, during the early Cold War years, Australia was heavily engaged with the British government in particular, in the development of nuclear weapons. The map above shows the locations of mining sites and other activities over the years since the 1930s. As you can see there is a heavy concentration within the State of South Australia.

THE 18 MISSING TEETH

The missing teeth issue is one that just won't go away, how come the man found on the beach, the same man on whom Dr. Dwyer performed an autopsy had so many missing teeth? On a related topic, why was Paul Lawson requested by Cleland to remove and replace the skull of the man just after Paul had completed the making of the bust?

One reason could be that Cleland had concerns about the missing teeth, in his position, both professional and social,  he would have known about the various experiments being undertaken in South Australia and their likely effects. He would have known for instance, that Radium can cause significant dental problems, problems that included massive loss of teeth.

He would also have known of the apparent association between Dr. Dwyer and Spriggs, Mr. Spriggs was known for his involvement in the Mount Painter Radium mining project. (Dr. Dwyer was a referee for Sprigg in a major job application, thanks to Peter Davidson for that detail) 

You can view the Sprigg ASIO file here...

As per previous posts, it is known that Radium, mined in South Australia and Victoria since the early 1900s, posed a significant opportunity for mining operations and later the development of various weapons. Radium is a substance known to cause massive damage to bone structures notably the jaw and teeth.

But Weapons development was not limited to Radioactive materials, developments and experimentation were taking place into the use of various chemical and biological substances that could be weaponised.

Thanks to, Michael Wohltman, Doctor John, and Peter Davidson, a number of documents have been uncovered that substantiate the involvement of British and Australian military and scientific personnel at the highest levels.  The PDF document is embedded here for your review. In these documents, you will find a number of names and locations mentioned. In particular, you may note references to security concerns with the CSIR and later  CSIRO.

Reading through the document above, you will find names, some in Victoria and one of which we have tentatively linked to Mr. Sher, owner of the Red Point Tool company where Carl Webb was once employed.

MOUNT PAINTER PHOTOGRAPHS:

Thomas Playford and Ben Chifley with others at Mount Painter in 1947.

Thought but not proven is that Tizzard may also have visited Mount Painter in November 1948

THE TEAM AT MOUNT PAINTER 1947:

In this photo, you will find Mark Oliphant, Ben Chifley, and Ben Dickinson, Ben was a friend of Reg Sprigg. There are some other faces of interest in this particular image, see the photo below:

At this time we have no high-resolution photograph but will update as and when we get access to one.

Above is East Painter Camp, where various people lived during their tour at the site. there was an airstrip close by that serviced the Camp and other locations in and around the Flinders Ranges

Not certain of the date of this photograph which shows a Dakota at the Mount Painter airstrip. There is a Holden Ute there which suggests that it may be dated 1950.

But it is known that the Dakota flew from the RAAF strip at Port Pirie in the 1940s.

Here's an interesting News Article from the June 1947 with numerous names included:

There are more links to interesting articles about Mount Painter which I will publish when they come to hand

The Trove article below was dated 1945

 This article dated October 1948: