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Bulletin Of Nuclear Veterans and Children

WE WILL FIGHT, FIGHT AND FIGHT AGAIN FOR THOSE WHOSE VALOUR IS WRITTEN IN THEIR BLOOD

MAGGIE SPECIAL EDITION APRIL 2013

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Maggie: She knew all about the

dangers of radiation exposure. These squaddies (below) didn’t.

Baroness Thatcher challenged-

Britain’s nuclear veterans to prove

“cause and effect” to back up their

claims for compensation, it has

emerged.

She threw down the gauntlet after

her closest political ally President

Ronald Regan decided to compen-

sate thousands of American nuclear

veterans after higher than normal

rates of Leukaemia were found in

servicemen who witnessed one

particular test.

The Iron Lady pledged she

would follow suit if the Brits could

prove they had suffered because of

their participation in bomb tests.

She told Labour MP Jack Ashley in

a written parliamentary answer that

she would only consider compensa-

tion if cause and effect could be

proved, adding: “With the greatest

of respect the cause and effect that

he says has been proved has not

been proved and therefore compen-

sation is not appropriate.”

Baroness Thatcher’s ultimatum

emerged this week as the nation

mourned the passing of the contro-

versial woman many considered to

be Britain’s greatest peacetime

prime minister. Researchers discov-

ered her thoughts on nuclear weap-

ons after studying letters from

Downing Street and statements in

parliament.

Right from the early days of her

political career, Mrs Thatcher, a

trained scientist, showed an interest

in the atom bomb. She wrote: “The

application of science meant that I

was better informed about the

bomb. I was immediately aware on

hearing the reports on Hiroshima

that somehow the world had

changed.”

She told how she was affected by

the accounts of the “hideous injuries,

the fire, the fallout and the radiation

sickness.” But she was moved more

than anything by “the bitter-sweet

image of weeds and wild flowers

sprouting through the ashes, their

growth unnaturally stimulated by

radiation from the bomb.”

Nuclear veterans now believe

they have the evidence to meet her

strict challenge. New scientific and

statistical documents prove there

was widespread contamination after

the Grapple Y nuclear test at Christ-

mas Island in 1958.

Cause and Effect pages 2 and 3

Open Letter to David Cameron page 4

Maggie’s Nuke Vets Pledge

A Story of Two Tories The Tory on the left is Andrew

Robathan, who was Minister for

“Veteran’s Affairs” when the Su-

preme Court handed down its devas-

tating judgment barring nuclear

veterans from suing the Ministry of

Defence. He was clearly delighted

with the judgment because on the

very day it was announced he fired

off a jubilant letter to every MP

informing them of the decision and

emphasizing the Justices’ belief that

the veteran’s case was weak.

The Tory on the right is backbench

Billericay MP John Baron who has

been fighting the veterans’ corner for

nigh on 12 years. After the Supreme

Court decision he took along a small

group of veterans to see if Mr Ro-

bathan. could do something for the

veterans. According to one: “Mr

Robathan was arrogant to the point

of rudeness. We were given short

shrift.” Mr Robathan has been pro-

moted. Mr Baron is still the back-

bench MP for Billericay.

Maggie the scientist at work

at the time of Hiroshima.

Between Heaven and Hell

By Alan Rimmer £9.99 plus £2 pp

Amazon Kindle £3.23

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The Cause: Contaminated Rainfall

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“TO CATCH THE READER'S ATTENTION,

PLACE AN INTERESTING SENTENCE OR

QUOTE FROM THE STORY HERE.”

The Cause: Windborne Particles

The Cause: Radioactive Fallout

MAGGIE SPECIAL EDITION

Official records, meticulously kept in a journal

over 18 years, showed that out of 2,409 ser-

vicemen who could definitely be placed at the

bomb tests, 1,159 (48%) attended the Grapple

Y shot of April 28, 1958. The records also

show 279 veterans reported joint cancer and

fertility problems, 174 of which (62%) were at

Grapple Y, while 55% of men who reported

cancers of all types also attended the shot.

Statistician John Urquhart, who has made a

detailed study of the figures said: “The men

did not know the significance of Grapple Y

when they reported their illnesses so the fig-

ures cannot be dismissed as biased.

The Effect: Mapping the Carnage

“TO CATCH THE READER'S ATTENTION,

PLACE AN INTERESTING SENTENCE OR

QUOTE FROM THE STORY HERE.”

RAF Squadron Leaders Tony Davis (left) and

Ken Charney were both Spitfire pilots in

World War 2. They have been immortalized as

some of “the few”, who valiantly defeated

Hitler’s mighty Luftwaffe thus saving the

world from Nazi tyranny.

But their was one foe they couldn’t defeat, a

silent, invisible enemy they met in Australia

and Christmas Island in the 1950s during

nuclear bomb tests. After seeing ervice on the

island, both contracted leukaemia and subse-

quently died. They were just two of 154 ex-

servicemen who succumbed to the rare dis-

ease.

Altogether 472 nuclear veterans reported

cancers of all types since taking part in the

tests, and more than half that figure (55%)

were present at Grapple Y.

The Effect: Leukaemia Plague

Ex-RAF man Archie Ross wit-

nessed six nuclear bomb tests on

Christmas Island and both he and his

family have paid a terrible price.

Mr Ross, 78, has suffered cataracts

in both eyes for many years which

doctors say was caused by radiation.

But it is what has happened to his

offspring that concerns him most.

His first child, Julie, was born badly

deformed and has bravely battled her

injuries ever since. His grandson

Jacob, born to his second daughter,

has Down’s syndrome. Mr Ross is

one of 1,058 veterans who have re-

ported problems in their offspring.

Caption de-

scribing pic-

ture or

graphic.

The Effect: Cursed Generations

Primary Business Address

Your Address Line 2

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Phone: 555-555-5555

Fax: 555-555-5555

Email: [email protected]

The Prime Minister

Dear Mr Cameron,

Your illustrious predecessor Baroness Thatcher

challenged Britain’s nuclear bomb test veterans to

demonstrate “cause and effect” in their claim for jus-

tice for the great harm done to them in the service of

their country.

Powerful new evidence presented here meets that

challenge by demonstrating how thousands of service-

men were almost certainly contaminated by fallout.

Many have since succumbed early to terrible radiation

-induced diseases while untold numbers of their chil-

dren have been genetically damaged.

Nuclear veterans have been battling for 30 year

for compensation. For God’s sake, is it not now time to

right this historic wrong and grant the few surviving

Cold War warriors the justice they deserve? If you can’t do it for God’s sake...then do it for

Maggie’s sake. It would be a fitting legacy for the

greatest Cold War warrior of them all.

Yours sincerely

Bulletin Of Nuclear Veterans and Children

Spread the word

CONTACT

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troops for the job because the enemy they

were fighting was even more dangerous than

the Japanese.

I tell this story because there seems to be a

perception that the men who took part in the

British bomb tests don't deserve the same

respect as those involved in other theatres of

war. They are treated as though their service

was a holiday in paradise. What the detractors

don’t realize is these men were in a war, the

Cold War, the dirtiest and the most dangerous

of them all. And the nuclear veterans probably

did more to keep the peace than anyone else.

They worked against the clock in atrocious

conditions to build the airfields and roads to

enable the scientists to test the weapons that

would make the Russian bear think twice

about attacking Britain. And make no mistake

this was a real possibility in the 1950s. And

while these soldiers toiled in the tropical heat,

often with the very air around them crackling

with radiation, their counterparts in the RAF

and the Navy were also doing their bit against

the invisible enemy and sacrificing their lives in

the process so we could all be safe.

General Leslie Groves, the man in charge of

the Manhattan Project, was as tough and un-

compromising as Margaret Thatcher ever was.

And they had another thing in common: they

both had the highest regard for the ordinary

soldier. Groves was incandescent with rage

when he

heard subor-

dinates com-

plaining that

some of their

best combat

troops were

being diverted

to “soft” jobs

on the super-

secret bomb

project. Call-

ing them

together he

told them in

no uncertain

terms that he

only wanted

the very best

In a quiet corner of a

graveyard, a forgotten

memorial to Britain’s

20,000 nuclear bomb

test veterans.

These men should not have to go cap in

hand to the Ministry of Defence looking for a

handout like paupers at a rich man’s table.

They shouldn’t be told to approach their MPs,

their elected representatives, like supplicants

seeking charity (as has been suggested in some

quarters). They shouldn’t have to beg for what

is their right.. “No! No! No!” Mrs Thatcher,

tough as she was, would surely have said.

Recently in the great port city of Liverpool

a huge crowd congregated at St Georges Hall.

More than 5,000 people came together to

unveil a memorial to the 96 Liverpool fans

who lost their lives in the Hillsborough disas-

ter. Among many impressive memorials in the

magnificent gardens of the hall is a square

stone plaque lying half hidden in a shady cor-

ner surrounded by daffodils. It is a simple

dedication to the thousands of servicemen

who took part in Britain’s nuclear bomb tests.

Although looking slightly forlorn and lost the

message at the bottom of the plaque was plain

enough.

“ALL WE SEEK IS JUSTICE.”

Carve Their Names With Pride

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