Operation Grapple talks nuclear past

A new exhibition opening this Saturday at the Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum tells the story of a little-known chapter in New
Zealand history of nuclear testing in the Pacific.

Photographer Denise Baynham tracked down 19 New Zealand nuclear test veterans for this poignant exhibition, which will run until 23 November. She will be talking about her work at the gallery when the exhibition opens on Saturday, at 10.30am.

In the late 1950s, the British Government conducted a series of nuclear weapons tests at Christmas Island and Malden Island in the mid-Pacific Ocean. This series of detonations was given the codename “Operation Grapple” and consisted of nine nuclear detonations between May 1957 and September 1958. The biggest of the detonations, Grapple Y, was equal to 140 Hiroshima bombs.

Two New Zealand frigates attended the series of detonations: HMNZS Pukaki and HMNZS Rotoiti. Over the course of these tests, a total of 551 New Zealand naval personnel manned these ships and their duties consisted of witnessing the detonation of the nuclear devices and collecting weather data as close as 37 kilometres to Ground Zero.

In Operation Grapple: We Were There, Denise Baynham presents portraits of 19 New Zealand nuclear test veterans. Photographed in their own homes so you can see where and who they are now, the accompanying stories about Operation Grapple are told in the veterans’ own words.