Leonard Beadell OAM BEM FIEMS (21 April 1923 – 12 May 1995) was a surveyor, road builder, bushman, artist and author, responsible for constructing over of roads and opening up isolated desert areas – some – of central Australia from 1947 to 1963. Born in West Pennant Hills, New South Wales, Beadell is sometimes called "the last true Australian explorer".

Early life

Beadell's paternal grandparents came from England in the mid-1870s.

In September 1942, he transferred to the Australian Imperial Force and was transferred to the 2 Aust Field Survey Section, the topographical survey and mapping unit of the New Guinea Force. In October he sailed for New Guinea serving with the survey section, renamed the 8 Aust Field Survey Section AIF in January 1943, for thirteen months. Most of 1943 was spent in the Milne Bay locality. It was here that Beadell developed his artistic skills by watching army topographical draughtsmen, whose job it was to draw maps from information supplied by surveyors. He was transferred to the 2 Section 6 Aust Topographical Survey Company AIF in Australia, returning to Sydney in November 1943 for a period of leave and further survey work in Queensland.

The initial survey reconnaissance for the project was conducted by the Director of Military Survey and Officer Commanding 5 Aust Field Survey Company AIF in 1946. The survey detachment of ten men, under the command of Major Lindsay Lockwood who had conducted a detailed survey reconnaissance in 1946, moved in March 1947 to 'The Pines' area in what became known as the Woomera area. There they started an Army program of topographic mapping which continued until 1953, when responsibility for such surveys was transferred to the Department of the Interior. Len was promoted to Temporary/Warrant Officer Class 2 in February 1948, and elected to discharge in December 1948. In November 1949, he was asked to rejoin the project and began further surveying as an employee of the Long Range Weapons Establishment in August 1950. A site for the secret testing of a British atomic bomb was selected by Beadell in 1952. A road from Mabel Creek to the test site Emu Field was built by him in March 1953, his first road. which was assembled by him. He said he tried whenever possible to make the road as straight as a gunbarrel. The road was built with initial reconnaissance and survey by Len (not the case in 1958 when the survey reconnaissance from Warburton to Carnegie was led by the Supervising Surveyor (Geodetic) Australian Division of National Mapping, Mr HA (Bill) Johnson MBE LS FIS Aust), usually alone, pushing through raw scrub in a Land Rover. by road south of Alice Springs. It then pushed west to the Rawlinson Ranges, skirting south of the Gibson Desert, via the mission at Warburton, to connect to an existing road at Carnegie Station. The total distance was about . Len's stories of the building of this road are told in the first of his numerous books Too Long in the Bush, a reading of which will give some insight into the incredible feat that building this road was. Len suffered near starvation, many mechanical breakdowns, countless punctures and other mishaps, all in searing desert heat, but seemingly took it all in his stride with good humour.

Later roads

Beadell's sense of humour was well known, and he referred to many of his roads as "highways".

Following the Gunbarrel Highway, Len built further roads by the same method, naming most of them after his family. The Connie Sue Highway for his daughter, the Gary Highway and Gary Junction Road for his son, the Anne Beadell Highway for his wife and Jackie Junction for his youngest daughter.

Bush dentist

During a break from construction of the Gunbarrel Highway in June 1957, Beadell convinced a visiting dental surgeon at Woomera, Dr Bruce Dunstan, to give him a crash course on tooth extraction.

The Beadell family sell books and memorabilia, and his daughter operates a bush tour business.

Beadell Resources, an Australian resources exploration company formed in 2007 and mostly active in remote Western Australia, named after "The Last Australian Explorer".

Honours

  • Len Beadell was awarded the British Empire Medal in 1957 for his work constructing the Gunbarrel Highway.
  • He was awarded the Order of Australia medal in 1988 in the Queen's Birthday honours list for his "service to the Public service and to literature".
  • He was a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Mining Surveyors, Australia, hence his postnominal, FIEMS (Aust.).
  • He has an asteroid 3161 Beadell named after him, an honour bestowed because his roads led to the discovery of several important meteorites in the Australian outback.
  • The Len Beadell Library, City of Salisbury, Adelaide was renamed in his honour.