Exhibit - Photographing Operation Crossroads: The Perry M. Thomas Collection
Introduction
In 1946, Major Perry M. Thomas was Chief of the Photographic Engineering Section that photographed the nuclear bomb experiments at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The project was called Operation Crossroads and it tested the effects of dropping nuclear bombs on ships. This exhibit features selections from his scrapbook. Then entire collection can be seen at the Michigan State University Archives and Historical Collections.
Biographical Information
Perry Marsden Thomas was born on December 27, 1905. He attended Kansas State University studying engineering for two years and while there participated in ROTC. He then transferred to the University of Wisconsin as a pre-medicine student. He was forced to stop attending college due to lack of money. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1942, Thomas was activated into the Army and became a first lieutenant. He was later assigned to the U.S. Army Air Forces due to his knowledge of high speed motion photography and aviation. Thomas was part of the team that photographed the nuclear tests at the White Sands Proving Ground near Roswell, New Mexico. He then became part of Operation Crossroads. (Unfortunately some aspects of Thomas’ life are not known thus there are gaps in his biography.)
Major Thomas and Operation Crossroads
OPERATION CROSSROADS was a U.S. Army and Navy project to test the effects of atomic blasts on the fleet. The tests took place on Bikini Atoll in the Marshal Island in the Pacific. Men were stationed at Kwajalein base on the Kwajalein Atoll and Enewetak Atoll, which were two atolls near Bikini. The first test, “A,” was conducted on July 1, 1946 to measure the effects of an atomic bomb detonated above ships moored in the Bikini lagoon. During the second test, “B,” on July 25, 1946, an atomic bomb was detonated underwater.
Major Perry M. Thomas served as the Chief of the Photographic Engineering Section, Task Unit 1.52 assigned to photograph the tests from land and air. He supervised the installation and maintenance of motion picture equipment and electronic controls for unmanned cameras. During the actual tests, he also served as a photographer.
Major Thomas created a scrapbook of his experiences during the tests. It contains documents about the mission, equipment, and tests, as well as photographs. The images include fellow service members, airplanes, photographic equipment, blasts, life on Kwajalein Base, and native Bikini Atoll residents. There are also a small number of images of blasts in New Mexico as well as copies of articles about the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings from the New Yorker Magazine. In addition to creating the scrapbook, Major Thomas also wrote a history of Operation Crossroads.
Camera Units and Personnel
There were many airmen working on Operation Crossroads. Jobs included installing cameras into air craft, electrical work with timers to activate the cameras, maintaining the camera in the tropical conditions, developing the film, maintaining the drones, and photographing the activities of the project as a whole. One hundred fifty seven movie cameras and one hundred and six still cameras were used to photograph the tests.
Cameras were placed in various positions in the aircraft, including in the nose, turrets, wings, and sides of the aircraft. Cameras were operated by servicemen as well as rigged to be run automatically. Cameras needed to be highly maintained to protect against corrosion in the tropical conditions
Unmanned drone aircraft were also used to photograph the tests. TheB-17 drone units were stationed at Eniwetok Atoll. Operators of the drones were called “beepers.” They the controlled take offs and landings remotely from the ground. Once in the air, drones were controlled by operators in a plane called the “mother ship.”
A – Day
The first atomic test in Operation Crossroads took place on July 1, 1946. A bomb was dropped over ships in Bikini Lagoon and the results were extensively photographed from air and on Bikini Atoll to document the results.
Life on Kwajalein air base
The air photograph unit was stationed on Kwajalein Atoll which was southeast of Bikini Atoll.
Conclusion:
The second test, “B” took place on July 25, 1946. It consisted of detonation of an atomic bomb underwater. A third test was cancelled. Although nuclear testing and nuclear weapons raises many concerns, Operation Crossroads was considered a success for Photographic Unit 1.52. Extensive amounts of still images and film footage were captured during and after the tests. Perry M. Thomas later made himself available for speaking engagements about Operation Crossroads.
Exhibit by Sarah Roberts, April 2013.
Updated by Alex Conell and Megan Badgley Malone, 2020.
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 Air Crews from the Air Photo Unit, 1945-1946 Date: 1940-1949 Image: jpg MSU Archives and Historical Collections |  |  |
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 History of Operation Crossroad, circa 1945 Date: 1940-1949 Text: pdf MSU Archives and Historical Collections |  Jerome Camera Maintenance, circa 1945 Date: 1940-1949 Image: jpg MSU Archives and Historical Collections |  Jerome turret cameras in front of hangar, 1945-1946 Date: 1940-1949 Image: jpg MSU Archives and Historical Collections |
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 Men perform camera maintenance on Eastman Fastex cameras, 1945-1946 Date: 1940-1949 Image: jpg MSU Archives and Historical Collections |  Mitchell, Bell and Howell camera maintenance, 1945-1946 Date: 1940-1949 Image: jpg MSU Archives and Historical Collections |  Nuclear Test Explosion From the Air, 1945-1946 Date: 1940-1949 Image: jpg MSU Archives and Historical Collections |
 |  Planes line up to record the first atomic test at Bikini Atoll, 1945-1946 Date: 1940-1949 Image: jpg MSU Archives and Historical Collections |  Task Unit 1.52 "Air Photo Unit", circa 1945 Date: 1940-1949 Image: jpg MSU Archives and Historical Collections |
 Task Unit 1.52 Air Crew including Major Perry M. Thomas, 1945-1946 Date: 1940-1949 Image: jpg MSU Archives and Historical Collections |  Task Unit 1.52 Air Crew list of names, 1945-1946 Date: 1940-1949 Text: jpg MSU Archives and Historical Collections |  The Belle of Bikini, Airplane Nose Art, 1945-1946 Date: 1940-1949 Image: jpg MSU Archives and Historical Collections |
 View of the front of a drone mother ship, 1945-1946 Date: 1940-1949 Image: jpg MSU Archives and Historical Collections |
