Woomera’s Women: camera operators on the Anglo-Australian rocket range 1947–1970, a case study of Laurine (Hall) East

ABSTRACT After WW2, with the onset of the Cold War, by virtue of an Anglo-Australian Joint Venture, Australia became a centre for scientific research into rockets and long-range weapons (including Britain’s atomic warheads) testing. By the mid 1950s a new outback town - Woomera had been created in the Australian Desert to conduct the tests. Each test generated 1,000s of images and 50,000 pictures could be generated per trial. Women’s roles at Woomera were initially expected to be traditional – supportive wives and mothers. This research based on archival records, documentary film and oral histories with those who worked on the range during 1947-1970, reveals women undertaking roles operating the kinetheodolites that filmed and tracked the rocket firings and female “computers,” who assisted in the production processes. These women recorded and analysed the data from filming and can be considered Australia’s “hidden figures”. Previous Woomera histories exclude any detailed mention of this industrial phenomenon – women as camera operators and data analysts/computers. This article examines the work of one of these women as revealed through film, archival records and oral history drawn from a broader study that examined the work of 12 former camera operators and four “computers” on the Woomera rocket range.