Sent to nuke test in shorts and sandals
Nuclear explosion AN army veteran has told how he was ordered deep into a nuclear blast zone by officers to “experience something no one else in the world will ever see”.
Former Royal Engineer Raymond Webber, now 81, drove a truck through the fallout in just his shorts and sandals when Britain exploded five N-bombs on Christmas Island in the South Pacific in 1958.
Four of his five sons have arthritis and other serious health issues in their 50s and his granddaughter of 26 already has symptoms.
“None of us knew what we were letting ourselves in for. We had absolutely no protection,” says Raymond, of Gillingham, Kent. To sign the petition for a special medal for all Britain’s nuclear test veterans go to https://petition. parliament.uk/petitions/220170
JOELY Richardson, Tess Daly and Vernon Kay share a joke at Wimbledon.
Other celebs in the Royal Box yesterday included cricket buff Jonathan Agnew, with wife Emma, and TV newsreader Sir Trevor Mcdonald. Downton Abbey star Joanne Froggatt was also spotted enjoying the sunshine. British No1 Johanna Konta won through to the second round with a straight-sets win over Russian Natalia Vikhlyantseva.
She later boasted about... a pavlova she’d made, saying: “It’s the first time I ever made it. It looked unbelievable.”