A Little America in Western Australia: The US Naval Communication Station at North West Cape and the Founding of Exmouth by Anthony J Barker and Michael L Ondaatje

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Ex library copy with external stickers removed. Partial date due slip on inside page. Wear to book corners with front cover tail right corner bent back. However, all right-hand corners have now been reinforced with book tape. Slight lifting of laminate from front cover tail edge. Book is clean and binding still very good.

In 1963 the US Naval Communication Station at North West Cape in Western Australia became the first US defence facility to be established on Australian soil in peacetime.

During America’s Cold War struggle against communism, North West Cape’s primary function was to communicate with the US fleet in the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans, especially nuclear missile submarines – the Navy’s most powerful deterrent force. Seen as a vital outpost of US defence throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the whole venture was just as monumental for Australia.

In this important and long-overdue history, Barker and Ondaatje examine the significance of North West Cape for Australia-US relations and Australian politics, but pay special attention to the town of Exmouth that was uniquely created to support the base. Drawing on archival records and oral interviews, A Little America in Western Australia brings to light the experiences of Australian civilians and US Navy personnel in a fascinating and often humorous portrait of life at the Cape. (back cover)