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LEN BEADELL OAM, BEM, FIEMS (Aust.)

Len Beadell is regarded as the "last true Australian Explorer" for opening up over 2.5 million square kilometres of rugged Australian Outback.

To assist Great Britain and allied European countries develop intercontinental ballistic missiles in the post WWII era, the Australian Government agreed to establish a rocket-launch facility in the Australian Outback. No other Continent in the world could offer Her Majesty's Government the space to launch rockets with the promise that no matter how well or badly the launches went, the experimental rockets were extremely unlikely to hit anything of significance when they inevitably returned to Earth. A Rocketeer's dream.

Len Beadell, then a Surveyor with the Australian Army, was ordered to find a suitable place to establish this rocket range - and having done so, survey and establish roads across Australia so that instrument stations could be established along the rockets' likely trajectory so that the success (or otherwise) of the tests could be measured.

Thus began Len's great 'adventure'. Over the years to come, Len would not only establish the Woomera Rocket Range 485 kilometres north of Adelaide, the Capital of South Australia, but a network of Outback roads which have become legend in the Australian Bush. One of those roads was named after his wife, Anne Beadell (with whom Len is pictured, right, at the base of Mount Beadell).

In his virtually unbreakable Land Rover, Len reconnoitred and plotted the course of his roads alone, then supervised his road-gang of six men - called "The Gunbarrel Road Construction Party" - in the construction of 6,500 kilometers of roads.

In a time before computerised navigational aids, Len established Woomera and his roads with the aid of a surveyor's theodolite, fixing his position by the stars. Today, the accuracy of Len's maps and 'fixes' when measured with modern GPS systems are a testament to the man and the brilliance of his mathematical mind.

Len's dry sense of humor matched the land he travelled through - and on retirement, he told of his life's work through video, audio and books and at countless guest appearances at community and service club meetings and at schools. Like his life's work, Len's talks also became 'legendary', never failing to raise a laugh and garnishing along the way, a strong following of his exploits which continues today.

As a testament to Len, his family continue to dispense Len's video, audio talk and books (some 'talking books') so that those with an interest in Australia - no matter what their age - will never forget Australia's Last Great Explorer.