Britain tested a number of atomic weapons in Australia and the South Pacific between 1952 and 1963. Seventy years on from the first detonation, former servicemen and their families, Pacific Islanders and indigenous communities in Australia are still living in the long shadow of these events.

In this episode, we travel to the remote area of Wallatinna in southern Australia to visit Karina Lester - an Aṉangu woman who has recently returned home to the traditional land of her late father, Yami Lester. She shares the story of the community who were living there at the time of Operation Totem, a pair of atomic tests which took place at Emu Field in 1953 with catastrophic consequences. With the contribution also of Dr Elizabeth Tynan.

Presented by Steve Purse.
Produced by Hannah Dean.
With recording on location in southern Australia by Jaye Kranz and additional archive from a 1999 ABC interview with Yami Lester by Caroline Jones
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

(Photograph courtesy of Steve Purse.) Show less