STRICT SECRECY

Evening Star, Issue 26067, 3 April 1947, Page 6

STRICT SECRECY

AUSTRALIAN ROCKET RANGE POINTERS TO MOUNT EBA AREA .(From C. R. Mentiplay, N.Z.P.A, Special Correspondent.). (Rec. noon.) SYDNEY, April 3. Although much has been released and written about the implications of the establishment of a rocket and selfpropelled missile range in Central Australia, exact information as to the tyipe and the extent of the experiments to be carried out there is noticeably lacking. Although members of the _ British military, and scientific missions have been. in ; Australia for some months quietly going about their business, the exact location of the range is not yet known outside official circles. Reports favour Mount Eba as a base, but as these also give currency to a baseless rumour that technicians and thousands of pounds’ worth of equipment are already established there, they must be discounted. The first “ fact ” gleaned by the Press was that Mount Eba had been purchased by the Government, but unfortunately for that story, this barren prominence is already Crown land. The only indication that it may become' ai base for the £12,000,000 project is the admission that aerial and ground surveys have been made in the area by Lieutenant-general J. F. Evans, leader of the' British Mission. Informed- . opinion suggests the range head will be at Mount Eba, and the firing site near McDoull Peak, 20 miles to the north-west of Mount Eba homestead, and 277 miles north-west of Port Augusta on Spencer’s Gulf. A possible alternative, however, is the Saltpau Country round Phillip’s Ponds, 120 miles to the south-east, of Mount Eba, and less than 100 miles from the Morgan-'Wbyalla pipe line. Pastoralists who own or operate huge holdings nearby, expect great things from the township to be built at the range head, and the spur line, to be constructed , from the main line. They hope for improved medical and educational facilities, and also that locally-produced mutton and beef will find* a ready market.

Mount* Eba station, which once comprised 2,000 square miles of semibarren country, now has ‘BSO square miles capable of carrying- 17.000. sheep. The mean annual rainfall is ojin. but the country lias not recovered from the disastrous drought of 1944, when sheep died in thousands. The Mount Eba airfield, which is the first fuelling point on the Ad'elaideDarwin air route, will take all but the heaviest planes. It was developed considerably during the war, and has wireless equipment including a partlycompleted radio range tower. This probably gave rise to reports of rocket equipment and stores there valued at £30.000.

These are the only concrete facts, in a maze of hypotheses and speculation connected with the vast project. Though annoving to journalists, it is a reassuring fact that those connected with the project are loath to take anyone into their confidence.