Soon after World War Two the British, Americans and Russian raced to develop long range missiles and atomic weapons. The British, not wanting to depend on the US for protection, chose Australia to develop and test long range missiles because of its political loyalty and large expanses of sparsely inhabited desert. The North-West of South Australia was transformed into a vast rocket range spanning 130 000 square kilometres (the size of England). The Zone was declared prohibited, resulting in the dispossession of the traditional owners, the Kokatha people. Not only were they forcibly removed from their homelands, but severed access to cultural sites meant the Kokatha could not carry out many of their custodial duties in caring for culture and country. Woomera Rocket Range is only one of the many examples in South Australia where the activities of the nuclear industry have resulted in dispossession and the obliteration of Aboriginal culture.