1954

Maj. Gen. William M. Canterbury

Maj. Gen. William M. Canterbury was the second commander of the Special Weapons Center. During June and July of 1946, he participated in Operation Crossroads, the nuclear weapons test series at Bikini Atoll. He became director of research and development of the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project at Sandia Base, Albuquerque, NM in Sept 1947. Previous assignments include Air Research and Development Command's director of development, chief of the Atomic Energy Division in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, deputy assistant for atomic energy to the deputy chief of staff for operations, and commander of the 1009th Special Weapons Squadron of Headquarters Command in Washington in August l952.