William McGee Books

In 1946, Bill McGee, USN, witnessed Operation Crossroads from the deck of the USS Fall River (CA-131), Flagship for the Target Fleet. A prolific WWII Pacific war historian, McGee and his co-author/wife have written Operation Crossroads, Lest We Forget! An Eyewitness Account, Bikini Atomic Bomb Tests 1946. On 1 July 1946 by the Bikini calendar (30 June in New York), millions of people around the world waited anxiously by their radios for the results of the first post-war test of the atomic bomb. No one knew what to expect,” writes William L. McGee in his naval memoir, Operation Crossroads, Lest We Forget! An Eyewitness Account, Bikini Atomic Bomb Tests 1946. In the summer of 1946, McGee was one of the 42,000 military, scientists, and civilian personnel assembled at the remote Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The objective: to conduct postwar testing of the atomic bomb on wartime vessels, equipment, and animals. Code name: Operation CROSSROADS. This year marks the 75th Anniversary of the first post-war atomic bomb tests at the Bikini Atoll.