Fissionline 32

Issue 32 International Bulletin of Nuclear Veterans and Children Jan 2015

fissionline

NUKE VET CHARITY

BOARD CASH ROW

FISSIONLINE 32

WHAT DID YOU BLOW £6K ON?

CHRISTMAS Island veteran Peter Waltham asked the BNTVA charity what he thought was a reasonable question: “Can someone please explain the travel and accommodation expenditure of £5,936 on this years statement?” The reply he got back, shocked him. The Charity’s chairman Nigel ‘Nige’ Heaps wrote: “Please address questions to the correct people in the correct manner and you will receive a response. As an observation do you honestly believe I or any member of our board would indulge in jollies at the expenditure of our members- we weeded those types out of the BNTVA long ago as you well know. You are lucky I saw this on here as it is not an official BNTVA fo-rum.” Peter, from Merseyside, said: “The question obviously upset them. On the BNTVA balance sheet an expense stood out to me as there was nothing under the heading the year before. I am not a financial whizzkid, but that just stood out to me. I have a couple of mates who are businessmen in the North West. I showed them the balance sheet individually and asked, ‘What stands out to you on this.’ They both said Travel and Accommodation for the same reason. As a regis-tered charity I think this question should be answered. If no reply, will have to ask IF the charity gets a payout from the Government, have they the wherewithal to manage such a large budget? My fear is that a large chunk will vanish into an administrative black hole.” Responding Mr Heaps wrote: “Yes we do have comprehensive plans in place to appoint appropriately qualified people and organisations to manage the Charitable fund, indeed we have already engaged one of the foremost companies of solicitors operating in this field with a well proven track record. The only place a large-chunk will be falling is into investments to ensure the fund survives to provide future generations with benefit too. Are you just using this forum to try and make some odd point or do you wish the organisation to answer a genuine question from one of its members?” Mr Waltham added: “They still haven’t told me what happened to the money. Was I wrong to ask the question? I cannot understand why others haven’t asked too.”

Pictures: Hard at work for Britain’s nuclear vet-

erans: Dinner-suited Jeff Liddiatt BNTVA Vice-

Chairman (top), at a Gala Ball, and Chairman

Nigel ‘Nige’ Heaps (bottom left) receiving a posy

on a recent BNTVA fact-finding trip to France

FISSIONLINE 32

the least this country could do is

repay this debt by taking care of

the men who took part in the

bomb tests and their families.

Shamefully successive UK govern-

ments have refused to compen-

sate the men or their widows.

Most have been refused war pen-

sions and their genetically dam-

aged children and grandchildren

have been ignored altogether.

Which is why survivors and fami-

lies from the Anglia area (pictured

above) regularly get together in

this small Norfolk market town to

help and support each other. And

although they are affiliated to the

wider nuclear test veterans com-

munity, they are fiercely autono-

mous and refuse to be subsumed

by the national organisation. They

showed their independence by

inviting me to their Christmas ‘do’

at the George Hotel, undoubtedly

to the chagrin of certain members

of the British Nuclear Test Veter-

ans’ Association Charity Trustees.

A previous visit by myself two

years ago resulted in a vexatious

letter from the ‘BNTVA Board’

expressing its displeasure. This

for, among other things, the hei-

nous crime of writing a book

SWAFFHAM is an ordinary Eng-

lish town where I met some ex-

traordinary people. Each had a

story to tell about cataclysmic

events 60 years ago when, as

young servicemen, they were sent

overseas to participate in Britain’s

nuclear weapons test programme.

The actions of these people, and

thousands like them, helped build

Britain’s nuclear deterrent which

acted as a vital buffer between the

warmongers in the Kremlin and

the White House. Military histori-

ans are convinced that Britain was

pivotal in preventing a nuclear

holocaust. Typically the nuclear

veterans I met shrug this off say-

ing modestly, ‘We were just doing

our duty.’ But as we all know

there has been a terrible price to

pay in sickness and death not only

for the men who took part in the

tests, but for their families as well.

Worse, the politicians and military

planners of the time were fully

aware of the dreadful health con-

sequences, but pressed on anyway

‘for the greater glory of Britain

and mankind.’ Most would agree

about the veterans without their

knowledge or permission. Anglia

veterans are a proud bunch who

don’t go in for much politicking.

They fight their own battles, in

their own way. In a recent address

the chairman of the BNTVA char-

ity tried to justify sidelining

groups like this by describing

them as a “cobbled together, hap-

hazard mixture of trade union,

church club and Old Boys net-

work.” That’s all water off a

duck’s back to the Anglia veterans

who are much too nice and cheer-

ful to bother with what other peo-

ple say. During the course of a

very convivial dinner two mem-

bers approached me to say they

had been told not to speak to fis-

sionline, adding, with a twinkle in

their eyes: “So we’ve decided to

come and speak to you!” As it

says in the headline “Unbowed,

undefeated”, that’s the true spirit

of Britain’s nuclear veterans. I

would like to thank everyone from

the Anglia branch, for their friend-

ship and warm-hearted hospital-

ity, and assure them that fis-

sionline will continue to fight with

every sinew on their behalf until

justice is done.

Inside Story Headline

BY THE EDITOR

FISSIONLINE 32

THE DEVIL’S PACT

AT THE END of last year an agreement critical to Britain's Trident nuclear weapons system, was signed by British and US offi-cials. The agree-ment renewed the special nu-clear relation-ship the two countries had forged back in 1958 when America finally allowed Britain access to its nuclear secrets and weapons stockpile. This followed the suc-cessful detonation by the UK in April 28, 1958 of the Grapple Y thermonuclear device which proved that Britain finally had the technology to deliver an effective nuclear capability. The ‘great prize’ as Macmillan called it was the culmination of six years of intense nuclear testing by Britain desperate to remain at the top table of world politics. What isn’t so public is the agreement also included provision by the US of its top secret S5W nuclear propul-sion unit, used to power its nu-clear submarine fleet. It was even-tually used in Britain’s first nu-clear submarine, HMS Dread-nought. The agreement, which was signed by US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and Brit-ish Foreign Office Minister Lord Hood, also contained a highly sensitive protocol which required America to provide the UK with hugely expensive enriched Ura-nium U235 in exchange for weap-

ons grade plutonium from Brit-ain’s nuclear reactors at Sellafield. This hush-hush arrangement only came to light in 1981 when senior

nuclear re-search scientist Ross Hesketh let the cat out of the bag in a letter to The

Times. The letter criticised the policy on plutonium of the then Conservative government. He wrote it -from his position as a senior research scientist at the nuclear laboratories at Berkeley, Gloucestershire, of the then Cen-tral Electricity Generating Board (CEGB). With the publication of this short letter, Ross's life changed. He was forced out of his job and soon became a fervent opponent of nuclear weapons. He built up a powerful proof of evi-dence on behalf of CND to the Sizewell public inquiry in 1984, which he used to oppose the ap-plication of his former employers to build a new reactor. Using his scientific skills, and evidence from a variety of sources he dem-onstrated that plutonium from Britain's first generation of nomi-nally civilian Magnox reactors had ended up in the US military stock-pile, having been exported under the 1958 Mutual Defence Agree-ment. The renewal of this controversial agreement was slipped quietly through Parliament without com-ment by the Foreign Office.

US-UK Nuclear Cooperation 1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement

Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Gov-ernment of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Original Agreement

signed, Washington, July 3, 1958 ARTICLE III

TRANSFER OF SUBMARINE NUCLEAR PROPULSION PLANT AND MATERIALS.

The Government of the United States will authorize, subject to terms and conditions transfer by sale to the Govern-

It took an announcement from Barack Obama to the US Congress last Decem-ber to bring it to light. He informed Congresional leaders that the 1958 agree-ment had been updated with certain amendments. Obama told Congress it was in America’s interest to continue to help Britain “in maintaining a credible nuclear deterrent.” The updated agree-ment means that Britain is stepping up its cooperation with the US over the de-sign of nuclear warheads. The multi-billion dollar deal is controversial be-cause opponents claim it contravenes international nuclear non-proliferation agreements which Britain has signed up to. Both the Foreign Office and the Min-istry of Defence in a rare display of unity are keen to avoid scrutiny of the agree-ment by Parliament in case it upsets the Americans and thus the all-important ‘special nuclear relationship.’ It was for the same reasons the UK government covered up the disastrous Windscale fire of 1957, and the even more catastrophic consequences of the Grapple Y explo-sion which contaminated thousands of servicemen on Christmas Island.

By a Special

Correspondent

FISSIONLINE 32

by a senior American nuclear offi-

cial to the Aldermaston atomic

weapons establishment (AWE)

refers to "enhanced collabora-

tion" on "nuclear explosive pack-

age design and certification", on

"maintenance of existing stock-

piles", and the "possible develop-

ment of safer, more secure, war-

heads".The partially censored

document refers to a letter Tony

Blair wrote to George Bush in

2006 asking for US help in main-

taining Britain's "nuclear delivery

system" and the white paper of

the same year, which gave the

green light for replacing the exist-

ing fleet of Trident nuclear missile

submarines.One document de-

scribes the MDA as an agreement

that enables Britain and the US

"nuclear warhead communities to

collaborate on all aspects of nu-

clear deterrence including

e CEGB a year later.

.. In October 1981, Ross Hesketh, who

on a strategy to unveil the truth

about the puzzle of Britain's stock of

plutonium, and its destination in the

US. This led to him being sacked by

the publicly owned CEGB on the

eve of the 1983 general election. Al-

though re-engaged by the CEGB

after a public campaign, he never

again felt comfortable working inside

the nuclear establishment, and left th

It was slipped quietly through

Parliament without fanfare. But a

message from Barack Obama to

the US Congress, let the cat out of

the bag. He informed Congres-

sional leaders that the 1958 UK-

US Mutual Defence Agreement

(MDA) had been updated with a

new amendment to the treaty.

Obama told Congress It was in

America's interest, to continue to

help Britain "in maintaining a

credible nuclear deterrent". The

updated agreement, means that

Britain is stepping up its coopera-

tion with the US over the design

of nuclear warheads, raising new

questions about the independence

of the UK deterrent. Increased

cooperation on warhead design

and the exchange of material cru-

cial in the manufacture and stock-

piling of nuclear weapons will be

sealed in a pact being drawn up

by senior officials from the two

countries. The pact, renewing the

1958 mutual defence agreement

(MDA) between the UK and US,

is expected to be signed in a dis-

creet ceremony in Washington in

the next few weeks. It does not

have to be debated or voted on in

parliament. Though the agree-

ment is incorporated in US law, it

has no legal status in Britain.

A document prepared for a visit

FISSIONLINE 32

Champagne Flight

via Shannon, Goose Bay, Seattle,

San Francisco and Honolulu. The

last ‘hop’ was the thousand mile

flight to Christmas Island. We

were waited on

hand and foot

throughout the

trip. The press

called them the

‘ c h a m p a g n e

flights,’ and they

certainly lived up

to their billing.

The only hitch

was at Seattle when we were taken

off the aircraft and locked in the

customs shed having being

classed as ‘aliens’, even though

we were all in our ‘blues.’ It

turned out that we were the first

service personnel to fly by this

route and the American authori-

ties hadn’t been told we were

coming. Reality struck home

when we finally arrived at Christ-

mas Island. It was not like the

desert island we imagined. The

landing strip looked derelict and

on the shore abandoned vehicles

had been driven into the sea and

Departure date for our trip to the

unknown was October 6, 1957.

We arrived at Heathrow, which in

those days had pre-fab departure

buildings. Previously I had only

travelled in a Hastings aircraft

with wooden slatted seats and

draughts coming through the rivet

holes! This was a new experience.

We flew off in a Flying Tiger

Lines Super Constellation, char-

tered by BOAC, with leather seats

and air hostesses and pilots

decked out in posh uniforms fes-

tooned with gold braid. This was

to be our ‘home’ for the next three

days...and we were treated like

royalty. The crew must have had

some idea what we were in for

and did everything to make our

flight as pleasant as possible.

With hindsight, I suppose it was a

bit like giving a condemned man

his last meal! The route took us

used as pontoons. Our accommo-

dation turned out to be the old

Khaki army tents with beds

propped up on wooden boxes. It

was as hot by night as it was by

day (30C) and we were pes-

tered by land crabs all over

the floors and even hanging in

the roofs of tents. We were

ordered not to go swimming

beyond the reefs, and we were

told that if we got sunburned

we could be charged with self-

inflicted injury. Of course we

all did because we were so

pale when we arrived we looked

as though we had arrived from the

moon. There was not a lot for us

to do until the bomb test which

was scheduled for November 8, so

we set out to explore the island.

The lagoon was so still it was just

like the Dead Sea. But sharks

were an ever-present danger and

we were warned about swimming.

Some ignored these warnings and

inevitably ended up as shark bait.

One such occasion occurred at

the end of October. (Cont...Pg 7

To H-Bomb Island

Anglia Nuke Vets Chairman Derek Chappell (pictured) recalls how in 1957 as a young RAF

technician he and hundreds like him were sent on a ‘champagne flight’ to Christmas Island.

BY DEREK

CHAPPELL

FISSIONLINE 32

moved to our positions. My job,

along with two others was to

monitor and record the ground to

air communications between the

Valiant doing the bomb drop, air

traffic control, and the civilian

experts on the ground. Our ‘base’

was a WW2 signals truck. As you

can imagine we felt marooned in

out aluminium box — no win-

dows, just vented slats. The

countdown began, tape machines

switched on, headphones over

ears. Our instructions were:

‘Sunglasses on, eyes closed, head

in folded arms.’ The flash lit up

the inside of our truck . Seconds

From pg 6… Time passed with

visits to the cinema and the

NAAFI, run by the only two fe-

males (both of uncertain age) on

the island. NAAFI stock was hap-

hazard — one week Mars Bars,

the next fruit cake, or one brand

of cigarettes, depending how it

was unloaded at the port. There

was never a choice of goods. To

relieve the boredom we often took

trips to the port to watch the

unloading. My first contact with

the Navy was to be offered a glass

of ‘coke’...the first and last time I

have ever drunk neat Rum! An-

other welcome diversion was to

practice evacuation measures

should things go wrong on the

bomb drop. The idea was to get

everyone as fast as possible to the

far end of the island. Where we

would evacuate to after that I had

no idea! Land crabs became a

source of constant amusement to

us. With a piece of string tied

around each claw we would take

them for a walk, paint numbers on

them and take bets on which

would be the fastest over a set

distance. The only problem was

that most of them tended to move

sideways and disappeared into the

undergrowth never to be seen

again. Another popular diversion

was to make good use of the plen-

tiful supply of coconuts. We

thought they would make lovely

presents for the folks back home

so we scrounged some paint,

wrote the addresses on the shells,

added stamps and sent them for

posting. I found out later that very

few arrived because the shells

shrunk and the addresses became

illegible. The sacks of coconuts

discarded in the sorting offices

must have been a potential radia-

tion hazard!. It was almost a relief

when D-day arrived and we were

later the Tannoy told us to ‘open

eyes’. We opened the door to be

confronted with an eerie silence

and a huge mushroom cloud

topped by fire and ice. Then

something approached us at

frightening speed seeming to melt

the clouds as it approached...then

BANG! All three of us ended up

on the back bench of the truck! It

was the blast effect, which we had

been warned about. We stood at

the doorway and looked out.

Every bit of glass in the surround-

ing buildings had been shattered,

coconuts had fallen from palm

trees, dead birds lay around, and

once again the eerie silence. We

switched off the equipment, re-

moved the tapes and delivered

them to the boffins. As we looked

back toward the truck we were

shocked to see that the side facing

the blast had been stripped of

paint, down to bare aluminium. I

was one of the lucky few who

were sent home a couple of

weeks later after my number came

up in a lucky dip drawn from a

biscuit tin. It was an experience

I’d rather forget, but like thou-

sands like me circumstances

made it impossible. I was diag-

nosed with the blood disease

Polycythemia Vera, a condition

where the blood makes too many

red cells, in 2006. In 2007 my wife

Di and I, along with several mem-

bers of the Anglia branch, made a

return trip to Christmas Island.

Our group had raised funds to

help the children of the island and

we were given a huge welcome.

Many of the elders remembered

the bomb tests and the impact it

had on their lives. As chairman of

our group I am more determined

than ever to keep us together and

continue the fight for justice as

long as we are on this planet.

Top: Derek and wife Di

en route to Christmas

Island. Middle: Derek

distributes toys and

gifts to children on the

island. Bottom: Derek

with one of the island

elders who gave him a

big welcome.

FACING MY DESTINY

FISSIONLINE 32

of 1957 and throughout 1958 six

more bombs were exploded near

Christmas Island. The rationale

behind detonating the bombs high

in the atmosphere was to reduce

the amount of nuclear fallout. The

servicemen deployed to the island

were not given any protective

clothing. They just wore what the

Navy calls “flash gear” - white

hoods and long white arm cover-

ings. The scientists all wore pro-

tective white suits. Geoff Jenkin-

son said that even with his eyes

closed he could see the bones in

his hands, like an X-Ray photo-

graph. In January 2007 Geoff’s

mouth started to bleed uncontrol-

lably. At first he and his wife Kate

thought it would stop, but after a

while he had to go to hospital.

They sent him to a dentist; the

dentist advised him to go back to

A&E. As you can imagine Geoff

and Kate were worried sick and

didn’t know what to do. Nor did

any of the doctors. Geoff contin-

ued to bleed until, on Jan 15, he

collapsed at home.; the paramed-

ics administered emergency first

aid and suggested that Geoff see

his GP. This time the GP took

blood for tests, but Geoff col-

lapsed on the way home from sur-

gery. On January 19, the GP came

to their home and said Geoff had

to be admitted to hospital as an

emergency. He didn’t say what

was wrong, just that Geoff was

seriously ill. Geoff had to be given

a blood transfusion because he

had lost so much blood, and was

diagnosed with acute myeloid leu-

kaemia, a rare condition charac-

terized by a proliferation of white

blood cells and a drop in platelets

CHRISTMAS ISLAND was an unin-

habited island 1,100 miles south of

Hawaii when Captain Cook landed

there on HMS Resolution in 1777.

It remained uninhabited until

around 1882 when coconut planta-

tions were established there. After

a chequered history of being in-

habited and uninhabited the is-

land was occupied by the Allies in

World War II. In 1956 the British

Government made a decision to

use Christmas Island as a test base

for the early hydrogen bombs,

under the codename Operation

Grapple. It was the height of the

Cold War, other countries were

testing atomic weapons and Brit-

ain felt she needed to be able to

defend herself in the same way. A

number of British ships were de-

ployed to the area: HMS Warrior,

HMS Messina, HMS Cossack, HMS

Cook, HMS Salvictor, HMS Narvick,

RFA Fort Beauhamois, RFA God

Ranger (tanker). Troop ships TS

Dunera, SS Charlton Star, SS Ben

Wyvis, HT Devonshire and SS

Reginald Kerr. One of the matelots

aboard HMS Warrior was a young

man called Geoff Jenkinson who

had joined the Royal Navy at age

16. Between 15 May and !9 June

1957, three H-Bombs were

dropped and exploded at 8,000

feet about 300 miles south of

Christmas Island near the uninhab-

ited Malden Island. At the end

and erythrocytes. Bleeding is one

of the known symptoms. Geoff

stayed in hospital until February

14, by which time he had been

stabilised and the medics had

stopped the bleeding. But he had

to start a long period of chemo-

therapy. While Geoff was fighting

cancer he wondered whether the

events at Christmas Island might

have contributed to his illness. He

started to investigate and discov-

ered that , of the 20,000 service-

men who took part in the bomb

tests, only about 3,000 were still

alive. Geoff suspected that radia-

tion from the bombs had contrib-

uted to the high mortality rate and

to his own illness. The American

Cancer Society says that there is

little doubt that high doses of ra-

diation cause cancer, and that it is

possible that the effects can be

passed on to the offspring of those

affected. It is now generally ac-

cepted that radiation causes ge-

netic damage, but it is difficult to

prove conclusively. Independent

research has shown there is a

higher than expected proportion

of Christmas Island veterans who

have contracted leukaemia. The

US Government has passed laws

to compensate those who were

exposed to radiation and who

then developed cancer. But the UK

Government will not accept any

liability. It tells the veterans to

apply for War Pensions, but most

have been told they are ineligible.

In contrast both France and Aus-

tralia have made provision for

their veterans. The Ministry of

Defence has spent over £4m de-

fending legal claims and seems

unlikely to change its mind.

MOD STANDS ALONE BY

SUSAN

SHIRLEY

FISSIONLINE 32

which had not been seen any-

where and certainly not seen in

the control population. This is

vital and very crucial research

and deserves to be carried out

now on all nuclear veterans and

anyone else involved in radia-

tion. I am not going to accept

any of this nonsense that a simi-

lar study cannot be carried out

in the UK. Of course there are

difficulties, but It can be done. I

know because real experts in the

field have told me. I have been

associated with the Anglian

group of nuclear veterans. They

are a very impressive group.

They know their own minds and

won’t be pushed around. If any-

one can get this off the ground,

it’s them. And this is something

I will be discussing with the

group in the coming months. I

am sure that with the right pub-

licity we will be able to launch

an appeal fund. Just the threat

I AM DELIGHTED to be a part

of fissionline because I think it is

doing a brilliant job on behalf of

Britain’s nuclear veterans. I have

been involved with the veterans

since the 1990s and I knew

enough about genetics and chro-

mosomes to know that the veter-

ans were affected by radiation. I

have an honours degree from Ed-

inburgh University in genetics. So

I knew about all the technologies

that were developing. I was boss

of a biology department in Nor-

wich when I was invited to New

Zealand to give a seminar and

talk at the Massey University. And

when I was out there I said would

like to meet some of the staff. I

was introduced to Al Rowland

who was carrying out a chromo-

some study on nuclear veterans

who had been at the Grapple

tests. I had a long, long chat with

him and I was very impressed by

his work. He was having quite a

bit of trouble convincing people

in his own country that his work

was very sound. I think that was

not because of the quality of the

work, but because of the implica-

tions. It meant that the govern-

ment would have to pay compen-

sation. And Rowland’s work was

so good they were unable to find a

flaw. His chromosome studies

were spot on. The more I spoke to

Al Rowland the more I liked him.

He was obviously a professional;

he knew all the stuff; knew what it

meant, and he identified differ-

ences that had never been seen

before in human chromosomes.

So there was something identifi-

able with this group of veterans

of bringing Rowland to the UK

would frighten the life out of the

government, so much so they

could be forced to the negotiating

table for meaningful talks about

compensation. I am excited about

the prospect of working with fis-

sionline on this and working with

my co-directors who are a very,

very impressive group of individu-

als. They have done a fantastic job

in reaching out to the wider com-

munity and educating them about

what happened at the bomb tests.

Together we could form a power-

ful lobby and even force the gov-

ernment to pay for the study.

There are people who can do that

kind of work. UCL has the exper-

tise to do it. It could even be car-

ried out at a regional level with

provincial universities getting in-

volved in carrying out the work. It

is an exciting prospect and one

which I am sure will lead to justice

at long last for nuclear veterans.

WELCOME ABOARD Nuke Vet Champion Dr Ian Gibson Joins fissionline’s Editorial Board

We are proud to announce the appointment of a powerful new voice to the Editorial Board of

fissionline, geneticist and former MP Dr Ian Gibson. Ian is a long-time supporter of Britain’s nu-

clear veterans and is passionate about helping their cause. Here he shares his thoughts.

Thank you fissionline I and many other Veterans would like to thank fissionline as the ruling from Justice Charles has quite broad application. My case is now getting reviewed by Veterans-UK be-cause of the outcome of the recent Upper Tribunal rulings of Justice Charles and Judge Andrew Bano. In my case I suffered a severe brain injury in 1977 while visiting Curacao on HMS Eskimo. I was in a coma / unconscious for 27 days and the MOD flew out my parents to repatri-ate me. On arrival at the RN Hospital Haslar, Portsmouth I was assessed as having 'very very slow character' and abnormal cerebra-tion and sent back to work on restricted du-ties and was arranged to have an IQ test. RN medical staff realised that there was some-thing wrong with me and quickly arranged for a neuropsychological assessment. They fraudulently stated the results then lost the records. I was sent back to work. Justice Charles has clearly stated that decision mak-ers have got to assess the case by using only the 'reasonable doubt' principle and not the balance of probabilities, and Judge Bano stated that destroyed records can not act against the appellant. Richard Davie

Business Name

FISSIONLINE EDITORIAL BOARD

Ken McGinley Roy Sefton Archie Ross Derek Chappell Dr Ian Gibson

FISSIONLINE has become the publishing sensation of 2014 with more

than 26,000 people from all over the world and from all walks of life

reading the only newspaper dedicated to achieving justice for the

victims of nuclear bomb testing. Its success is partly down to the edi-

torial team who spend long hours putting the newspaper together.

But the real plaudits belong to our fantastic Editorial Board whose

knowledge and wisdom has been the cornerstone of fissionline’s

success. Their vast reservoir of knowledge stems from the fact they

actually participated in the nuclear bomb tests. Unlike many who

claim to speak for the nuclear veterans, these gentlemen were there

when the bombs went off. People acknowledge they know what

they are talking about and respect the fact they would not dream of

resorting to cheap PR stunts. And as for going cap in hand to the gov-

ernment asking for a handout, the Editorial Board believe they speak

for the majority of nuclear veterans when they say they neither seek

nor want charity. These people give their time freely and are always

on hand with help and advice, even though they are all suffering in

one way or another (like most nuclear veterans). They oversee the

content of fissionline, and as a prerequisite insist on absolute accu-

racy. A great wrong was perpetrated on thousands of young service-

men 50 years ago. The least they and their families deserve is an

apology and appropriate compensation. Northing else will do.

Alan Rimmer

Editor

Fissionline is an independent newspaper with no

political ties or affiliations. It is free of charge and

exists solely to help nuclear veterans everywhere.

If you would like to receive a digital copy contact:-

[email protected]

Fissionline 32

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