HONOUR OUR NUKE HEROES
Give bomb test survivors the medal they deserve
THE MIRROR today demands a medal for our nuclear test heroes, 60 years after Britain ordered them to witness the most devastating weapon it ever fired.
As boy soldiers in 1958, thousands of our fittest men were ordered to the South Pacific for the biggest military operation since D-Day.
A memorial stands on Christmas Island, built by locals, while successive UK governments have obstructed calls for official recognition.
Ron Watson, 79, organised a final pilgrimage with three other veterans to the site more than 8,000 miles away, to remind the Government they are still fighting to be honoured.
He said: “A medal doesn’t take away the problems people had when they came home. But it relieves the psychological pressure we have been under for 60 years. An official medal recognises that we made a sacrifice for our country. When you go to war in Afghanistan you know the risks, but in the nuclear tests we had no idea. Nobody did. We were the guinea pigs.”
Ex-Royal Engineer Ron was just 19 when he was part of Operation Grapple, the crucial campaign to build a hydrogen bomb. A total of 22,000 servicemen were ordered to build the infrastructure for, and witness, the nuclear tests.
Ron, like the others, wore little but shorts and boots when ordered to squat down with their backs to the beach and cover their eyes. “There was a flash so strong you could see the bones in your fingers like an X-ray,” said Ron, of Warboys, Cambs.
“Then a terrific heatwave, like an electric heater being waved across your bare back, a crack and a rumble. Fellas who stood up too soon were knocked to the ground by it all. When we were told to stand and look, there was a great ball of fire in the sky. Afterwards, we just got on with the day job.”
Ron lost all his teeth within two years of going home. He and his daughter have had tumours in their thyroids, and his wife suffered two lateterm miscarriages, which led to divorce.
Research shows a third of test vets died before 1999, many in their 50s from radiogenic cancers. A 2007 study found their wives reported three times the normal number of miscarriages. They have an estimated 155,000 descendants, with 10 times the usual birth defect level.
Making the pilgrimage with Ron to Christmas Island, since renamed Kirimati, to mark the 60th anniversary were former RAF technician Leslie Hawkins, of Horley, Surrey, and ex-Royal Engineers Robert McCann, 79, from Romsey, Hants, and Ray Carbery, from the Isle of Man. All four are survivors of the Grapple Y bomb test, detonated on April 28, 1958. It was Britain’s largest nuclear weapon tested and first to go thermonuclear, and has sparked most of the concerns.
Ray, 80, who suffers constant bowel problems and has a severely autistic son, said: “They didn’t send the weedy guys. They gave us all medicals first, we were the healthiest they had.
“Whatever happened on Christmas Island killed the fittest lads in the armed forces. Out of the 12 in my unit, half died of blood cancer.”
The veterans took toys and books for the island’s children plus equipment for its hospital, all paid for from their own pensions. They were feted by local political leaders and invited to dedicate a new memorial built by the islanders.
They bore the standard of the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association. Ron said: “It’s ironic
that the only people prepared to recognise what we did are on the other side of the world. Our own government doesn’t have the decency to do the same.”
No veteran has been invited to meet a UK leader. Some 90% seeking war pensions are refused and, despite the MoD’s scant records, have to provide proof of the radiation dose. The government has spent more than £17million fighting court claims and pension appeals.
Leslie, 81, has made three return trips to the island. He said: “We’re probably the last ones who’ll make that journey. It would be nice to have a medal. There’s not many of us left, so it wouldn’t cost much.” Just 1,500 are thought to be alive. A University of Dundee study found one in seven veterans was sterile. Another study found double the cases of blood cancer that the government admitted.
In 2011, an MoD survey reported 83% of nuclear veterans had multiple medical conditions. Yet only a £45 unofficial medal is available to them, from an online firm.
Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson will lead calls in Parliament for an honour. He said: “The argument over what was done to these men has dragged on for years.
“But, 60 years on, they and their families are still living under the cloud of that bomb and the effect it had on their lives. We need to do something for the veterans now, to recognise their unique situation and give them the thanks of their country. Their service was unusual and of crucial importance to Britain’s place in the world. I will do whatever I can in Parliament to ensure they get the medal they so justly deserve.”
Robert, who has had cancer, was in a clean-up operation six years after the tests. He said: “We left a lot of rubbish. I was told to load it on to barges, take it over the reef and scuttle it with explosives. They want to do the same to us; sweep us away, pretend we were never there.”
The MoD said: “We are grateful to all those who participated in the British nuclear testing programme, which contributed towards keeping our country secure, and carefully consider every request to recognise their accomplishments.”