Atom bomb test case victory

Twenty five years of campaigning resulted in victory in the High Court when Mr Justice Foskett ruled the ex-servicemen's case can go to full trial.

This was a decisive moment in the history of a marathon campaign driven by more than 1,000 veterans and their families in what will be one of Britain's biggest ever compensation claims.

The men were part of nuclear tests on Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean in 1950 and believe health problems suffered since that time were brought on by radiation from the explosions they were made to witness.

Malcolm Pike, now 74, of Grange Court Drive is a survivor from three tests whose own health has been impaired and deteriorated over the years.

He suffered skin cancer on his chest and back and has difficulty with restricted breathing.

He said he is "pleasantly surprised" by the ruling made by Mr Justice Foskett even though he knows the case might not be heard for another three years and may anyway be settled out of court.

Malcolm said: "To me this is recognition that somebody at long last has appreciated that fact that we were in some for of danger. That is what makes you feel better - the fact that this judge says the MOD has something to answer for.

"The fight is not for the money. It is for the recognition of the fact there was danger we were all put in."

He is one of 1,300 members of the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association started in 1983 by Ken McGinley as it became obvious that servicemen who took part in Operation Grapple in May and June 1950 were suffering health problems and even apparently dying from the longterm effects of radiation.

Malcolm was just 24 years old when he stood with everyone else on the flight deck of HMS Warrior and turned his back to the explosion.

Alongside the aircraft carrier were ships from New Zealand, the Pukaki and Rotoiti, and also there were HMS Messena and HMS Narvik.

Malcolm said: "We were just told that we were going to witness H-bomb and A-bomb tests.

"None of us knew about radiation. Even though we had heard of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it didn't really mean anything to us. We were in the wrong age group to worry - nothing could affect us.

"We had anti-flashgear gear - which was a cotton type hood, and gloves, and we had our trousers tucked into our socks. This anti-flash gear was exactly the same they wore behind a four inch gun in WW2 - how you can compare that with an H-bomb test I don't know.

"We all stood with our backs to the drop zone and directly the bomb had gone off, after a few seconds, they told us to turn around and watch what is going on.

"There was a plume of water that goes up to form the mushroom...it was a fantastic sight, there is no other word for it. You can't say you are not overwhelmed by it because we all were.

"The other equipment we had was a film badge which you wore on your shirt, to show if you had been hit by radiation, but when we came off the flight deck it was all thrown into a bucket, so you'd never know who'd worn it anyway."

As part of the test, the men were then told to pull fish out of the water to see if it had been radiated - this with their bare hands.

Malcolm also tells of one of the pilots who dropped a bomb and was then ordered to fly through the drop zone an hour after the explosion to collect data from the air - he died within a year or so.

"I remember there were three of us - Dick Mandley, Neil Haberman, and myself. We took a boat out to one of the little islands, it was uninhabited, just birds on it. We thought it was fantastic. We got some fish and had a good meal.

"Since then Neil died a horrible death - he had cancer-related problems. Dick's wife had enormous miscarriages after he came back, and they never had children. My wife and I were fortunate - we had our daughter before I went to Christmas Island, but when I came back, we hoped for another one or two offspring, but Margaret had a terrific miscarriage and that bought to an end to our family raising."

He joined the BNTVA when he read an interview about founder Ken McGinley starting the campaign for compensation, and he and Margaret attend regular reunions. He recently attended an HMS Warrior reunion at Weston-super-Mare and admits the numbers are dwindling: "Two of them were gone this time - they died of illness. But some are still there."