On October 15th, 1953 three Royal Air Force crew members in Canberra B2 WH 738 flew, 9 minutes after detonation, through the middle of the atomic mushroom cloud left behind by the 10 kiloton atomic explosion of Operation TOTEM 1. Their radiation measuring instruments measured between 1,500 and 2,500 roentgens per hour.
This was an historic event for the United Kingdom as it was the very first time Britain had sent citizens directly into the aftermath of an atomic weapon… and it would not be the last time either.
In fact, the largest British Nuclear Test involved the 3000 kiloton thermo-nuclear explosion of Operation Grapple Y on April 28th, 1958 - where three RAF 76 Squadron Canberra B6 crews sampled the billowing mushroom cloud it created starting just 21 minutes after detonation. For comparison, Hiroshima was an estimated 15 kiloton detonation and Nagasaki was an estimated 25 kiloton detonation.
With these British Nuclear Tests the United Kingdom became nuclear super power which was so important for the ‘Peace through Strength’ strategy during the Cold War era and one of the many reasons, for decades, we have not had to worry about nuclear war … until now.
The Cold War British Nuclear Cloud Samplers and their decontamination crews did this for queen… for country … for world peace.