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Bomb Test 
(Continued from Page 1) 
British hydrogen bombs 
will be exploded 20,000 feet 
in the air four to six miles 
off tiny Maiden Island, 1,565 
miles south of Honolulu, 
The, Advertiser learned last 
i 
itt Valiant Jet 
botribers flying at altitudes of 
40,000 to $0,000 feet will get their 
finalhearing for the drop from 
a huge triangular target device 
ready installed on Malden, re¬ 
liable British sources revealed. 
The distance of the test site— 
1,565 to 1,656 miles south of Ho¬ 
nolulu — further minimize the 
1 
t 
fallout danger here. 
BW SAID THE .main pur¬ 
pose of the experiment is not to 
test the destructive ability of the 
H-bombs. 
Tea ships will be within a 100- 
mile radius of the airburst and 
three jets will fly through the 
nuclear cloud to collect radio¬ 
active spedmens. 
Some 1,200 British sailors and 
sappers were “on the town” in 
Honolulu last night, enjoying a 
two-day last fling before head¬ 
ing beck for the H-bomb test 
* Christy Is- 
ad yesterday morn¬ 
ing on the aircraft carrier War- 
31 a all tosumtm aft¬ 
ernoon. 
THE BRITISH * servicemen 
said they were enjoying their 
brief chance to live it up, espe¬ 
cially the soldiers who have been 
isolated at Christmas Island for 
months.- Their only complaint, 
and it was a minor one, was the 
high prices they found along Ho¬ 
tel St and in Waikiki. 
Earlier yesterday, the skipper 
of the Warrior, Commodore R. 
B. N, Hicks, confirmed an Ad¬ 
vertiser story of Jan. 28 that the 
British will blast their H-bombs 
far south of the Christmas Island 
test headquarters. 
THE ADVERTISER reported 
more than six weeks ago that the 
tiny, barren islands of Malden 
and Starbuck were the likely 
target islands for the tests. 
At a press conference aboard 
■x 
(Continued on Page A-3, CoL 4) 
the Warrior after it docked at 
Pier 40 yesterday, Commodore 
Hicks was asked whether Mal¬ 
den and Starbuck would serve as 
targets for the air bursts. 
“The bomb probably will be 
dropped adjacent to an island 
considerably south of Christmas, 
but I can’t state which island,” 
he replied. 
* * * 
MALDEN and Starbuck are 
the only islands south of Christ¬ 
mas which lie within the 600,- 
000 square mile danger zone laid 
°6t by the British for the nuclear 
tests. 
Malden is 365 miles south of 
Christmas. Starbuck is 450 miles 
south of the test headquarters. 
Both are within easy range and 
less than an hour’s flying time 
from Christmas by the Valient 
jet bombers, which the Com¬ 
modore said probably will drop 
the bombs. 
ASKED ABOUT fallout dan¬ 
ger to Hawaii, Commodore Hicks 
said there would be “no fallout 
in the acceptable sense.” 
That’s because the bombs will 
be exploded high in the air, 
where it is unlikely they could 
scoop up any earth particles and 
infect them with radioactivity. 
The biggest fallout danger, ac- ( 
cording to the U. S.. Civil Defense 
Administration, comes from 
ground bursts which suck tons 
of radioactive earth and other 
particles thousands of feet into 
the air and spread them over 
a wide area. 
COMMODORE HICKS said 
rthe British H-bombs will b* 
J dropped fronf the belly of a jet 
^ ..bomber flying at an attitude e*f 
'■ ,40,000 to 50,000 feet. 
[ He wouldn’t say at what 
j e i§ht they would be exploded 
I except that “it will be high 
! enough to prevent fallout.” 
: j Commodore Hicks, who will 
jeommand British naval opera¬ 
tions during the tests, said all 
preparations have been complet¬ 
ed and “we’re ready to go.” 
He said the tests—“and I em¬ 
phasize the plural”—will begin 
in “the late Spring.” 
HE DECLINED to say whether 
the H-bombs for the tests have 
arrived at Christmas. He said 
they would not be delivered 
through Honolulu and are not 
now aboard his ship. 
“I wouldn’t want to start a 
panic along that line,” he 
laughed. 
Commodore Hicks said all 
British personnel would remain . 
at Christmas Island during the 5 
tests except those aboard the ( 
10-ship nuclear task force which 
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