Bomb Gone. H-Bomb Puts Britain on Level Terms. Special Souvenir Edition.

A rare newsletter celebrating the supposed detonation of Britain's first hydrogen bomb as part of Operation Grapple in the Christmas Islands during 1957. The text describes the preparation, the event itself, and the Valiant XD 818 used to drop the bomb. Task Force Commander Air Vice Marshall W.E. Oulton and Scientific Director W.R.J. Cook are profiled.

'In May–June 1957, the first three Grapple tests were held at Malden Island, codenamed Grapple 1 (Short Granite), Grapple 2 (Orange Herald), and Grapple 3 (Purple Granite). The nuclear devices were detonated high over the ocean after being dropped from a Valiant bomber. After the three tests, the British Government (falsely) stated that it had achieved a thermonuclear explosion in the megaton range. The MidPacific News - a newsletter produced for staff and troops on Christmas Island - reported: 'Bomb Gone! H-Bomb puts Britain on level terms' (Maclellan, Grappling with the Bomb: Britain's Pacific H-Bomb Tests, p. 2, 2017). It was quickly determined that none of the detonations had actually reached 1 megaton, but Grapple X in November of the following year achieved this.

2-leaf mimeographed broadside, wire-stitched (33.5 x 20.5 cm), text printed in red and black, slight rusting from the staple, excellent condition.