Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MPS told veterans deserve a special medal
Family’s pleas on soldier Derek
VETERANS of the nuclear tests must get a medal for the “terrible ordeal” they went through, MPS have been told.
Labour MP Chris Evans told the Commons the gong should be
THE family of a soldier who died during radiation experiments has accused the Ministry of Defence of a cover-up.
Royal Engineer Derek Redman, 27, officially died due to “diabetes of sudden onset and great severity” amid Cold War nuclear bomb tests in 1958.
Only a day before his death the strapping boxer and scuba diver had manhandled a bogged-down Army lorry out of soft sand with his bare hands.
A massive dose of radiation could, in theory, have caused the fit lance corporal’s death on Christmas Island in the South Pacific.
Derek’s relatives were not told if a postmortem was carried out and his body was buried at sea four hours after he died.
The family never believed the official version of events and now, after an investigation by the Daily Mirror, they are renewing their demands for answers.
Derek’s brother Donald, now 84, said: “He wasn’t diabetic. He was built like a brick outhouse and never sick a day in his life. We’ve always believed the radiation killed him. They used him in their experiments and then swept it under the carpet.”
Donald, from Brighton, added: “All those boys were rated A1 fit before they went. It’s obvious he died because of something to do with the bomb. They won’t admit it.”
Ex-comrades of Derek have now come forward, telling how for a week before his awarded to mark Armed Forces Day on June 27.
He said: “The British test veterans still do not have justice. Many had illnesses and problems throughout their entire life. They death he was ordered into fallout without protective clothing, following a massive H-bomb codenamed Operation Grapple Y.
Terry O’keefe, 87, a sapper in 38 Corps Engineer Regiment, recalled: “He and I drove to a lagoon to go swimming. Our truck got stuck in sand and I remember him pushing it out. Next day he was dead – I couldn’t make head nor tail of it.”
Fellow sapper Dave Whyte said Derek was ordered to drive scientists into fallout to collect samples after the test, without any protection. One night Derek felt ill, fell into a coma and died in the infirmary.
Cases of sudden diabetes are rare and are caused by a trauma to the pancreas that stops it functioning. An increase in diabetes has been noted in survivors of the Chernobyl disaster.
Diabetes expert Professor Partha Kar, consultant endocrinologist at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “The only way we could be certain diabetes caused this man’s death is with a postmortem.”
Questions were raised in Parliament immediately after Derek’s death and Julian Amery, Under-secretary of State for War, told MPS there was “no medical connection whatsoever” to nuclear test blasts.
An MOD spokesman said: “We are extremely grateful to all those who participated in the nuclear testing programme. Government studies have found no valid evidence to link participation to ill health.” have not been compensated and, more importantly, recognised.
“What better way is there to celebrate their contribution than for the government to finally recognise their service by striking a medal to thank them for what they have done?
The SNP’S Carol Monaghan agreed and added: “There is no reason why these people should not have some recognition.”