Percival Prince. His party included Pritchard, Butement, Martin, Ben Gates (the range controller), Ivor Bowen from the UK Ministry of Supply staff in Melbourne and Omond Solandt from the Canadian Defence Research Board. The party inspected the area by helicopter and Land Rover; the light sandy clay soil was easily traversed by motor vehicles. The drawbacks of the Emu Field site were also discussed. These included the fact that there was no all-weather road from Woomera. In December, Penney secured ministerial permission from the British government for two tests to take place in October 1953: one of the Blue Danube type but with a smaller fissile charge, and one of a new experimental type. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill, then sought permission from Menzies, who was in London at the time. Churchill's scientific adviser, Lord Cherwell, handed Menzies an aide-mémoire on 13 December. Two days later the acting Prime Minister, Arthur Fadden, signalled his approval for the tests from Australia. Preparations The test series was given the codename Totem. A Totem Executive (Totex) chaired by Air Marshal Sir Thomas Elmhirst was formed in the UK to coordinate the tests. The UK government agreed to foot the bill for the tests. Penney was appointed the trial director, with Leonard Tyte as scientific director. Tyte was appointed to the National Coal Board in May 1953, and was replaced by Charles Adams. In Australia, a Totem Panel chaired by J. E. S. Stevens, the head of the Department of Supply, was created to coordinate the Australian contribution. With defence money short and Britain paying for the tests, it was important that expenditure was correctly recorded and charged. The total cost of the trial was estimated at £799,700. Unlike Hurricane, it was decided that it would be best if a single service was responsible for the test series, and the Australian Army was so designated. The task of coordinating the construction phase was given to Brigadier Leonard Lucas. Lucas was an architect who had been the Deputy Engineer in Chief of the Australian Army during the Second World War. When he was given the assignment on 6 January 1953, he was the Regional Director of the Commonwealth Department of Works in Perth. Squadron Leader Kenneth Garden was appointed deputy director and supervisor of construction. The construction force was drawn from the Army, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and the