John Robinson was born in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, in 1934. He grew up on a farm and attended a grammar school. After leaving at the age of 15, Robinson worked for his father’s dairy business before joining the Royal Air Force in 1952. Following his training, Robinson joined the Bomber Command Main Force and was posted to Australia for Operation Mosaic in 1956. He then served during Operations Buffalo, Antler, and Grapple, flying Canberra aircraft to collect samples from mushroom clouds following the nuclear detonations. Robinson stayed in the RAF until 1974, continuing to fly Canberras and eventually becoming a flying instructor. He remained in aviation after leaving the RAF, working first as a flight examiner for the Civil Aviation Authority and then flying business jet aircraft. He currently lives with his wife in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire. They have two children, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Interview extracts
Description
John Robinson piloted a Canberra aircraft for Bomber Command Main Force. He was involved in multiple test operations, including Operations Buffalo and Antler in South Australia and Operation Grapple in the Pacific. In this clip, he discusses balancing his ongoing service with his personal life after serving on the nuclear testing programme. Robinson continued to play an important role in radiation detection from nuclear explosions, a job that required flexibility and a willingness to move from base to base.
This is a short extract from an in-depth interview. John Robinson was recorded for the Oral History of British Nuclear Test Veterans project in 2024. The interviewer was Joshua A Bushen. This project was run in partnership with National Life Stories and the full interview can be accessed at the British Library.
Transcript
So we moved up to Hemswell, it was there that we got married. So yeah, we were based there and got married down at home, but, yeah. And that’s where we moved, because they then shifted the whole lot from Hemswell down to Upwood, RAF Upwood, near, well, it’s near Huntingdon, yeah. And so we moved the squadron down there. What we were doing was very, very much background sampling of all the real background stuff in the atmosphere that was floating around, because a lot of tests were going on in those days, for a lot of countries. So it was collecting for the scientists, you know, all the information. Not only in the UK, the detachments everywhere. We had trained to Canada, operated from Gibraltar quite a bit. I didn’t on those, but we had detachments in Darwin and Perth… Darwin and, where was it? Oh yes, Melbourne.
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