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The story of Britain's postwar atomic weapons programme, its devastating legacy for the thousands of service personnel who took part and the impact on their families and indigenous communities.
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00:00:16To enable me to cope with the stresses and the nightmares from the atom bombs I witnessed.
00:00:32I have devised ways and means of keeping myself busy.
00:00:41One of those interests was astronomy.
00:00:47My objective was to map the moon.
00:00:53I could see each crater, each piece of desert area.
00:01:02This dividing line between light and dark, where there was nature's power being demonstrated
00:01:12and its violence, it puts everything in perspective.
00:01:24It's given me more of an understanding of the nature of man to destroy life.
00:01:36And that thought has weighed heavily on my conscience.
00:01:45Personally I feel that I'm a part of something that should never have happened.
00:01:58This is the longest running scandal in British history.
00:02:06There is nothing bigger or worse than what's happened to the nuclear veterans.
00:02:10In the heart of the atom's destructive power there lay the antidote to the threat of war, the great deterrent.
00:02:19The world doesn't know.
00:02:21I've been fighting this battle for 63 years.
00:02:25The British state have gaslighted these men.
00:02:28The development of nuclear weapons marched ahead.
00:02:3260 seconds.
00:02:33It was really frightening.
00:02:36We thought we were going to die.
00:02:38Britain would test the megaton for H-bombs.
00:02:41One door open.
00:02:42They're carrying inside them invisible bullets.
00:02:46Toxic ionizing radiation.
00:02:49Severe internal problems.
00:02:51Dead at six months old from cancer.
00:02:53Cancer, cancer, cancer, cancer.
00:02:55You can go on.
00:02:56We were lab rats.
00:02:59Minus 22nd.
00:03:00There exist within our society some dark forces that suppress the truth.
00:03:06They killed people and they haven't acknowledged it.
00:03:09The question is simple.
00:03:12What killed the babies?
00:03:14Minus 10 seconds.
00:03:16We're constantly living in this shadow.
00:03:18In the shadow of the bomb.
00:03:20Five, four, three, two, one.
00:03:29You could see the evil in it.
00:03:35It was like looking at the devil.
00:04:12I was born in these parts.
00:04:14And the biggest excitement was a week in Blackpool.
00:04:18And all of a sudden you're going to bleed in Australia.
00:04:20Bloody hell.
00:04:22I'd been on a ferry over the Mersey.
00:04:25And then I'm suddenly on a troop ship.
00:04:28To a small coral island.
00:04:31In the middle of the Pacific.
00:04:35I was 18.
00:04:37And we were told we were going out to Christmas Island.
00:04:41And I said Christmas Island.
00:04:44Oh where's that?
00:04:45I haven't got a clue.
00:04:47Going to Australia.
00:04:49It all seemed rather romantic.
00:04:51Things which you only see on films.
00:04:56It was a paradise island.
00:04:58Wow.
00:04:59What more can you want?
00:05:00But our age.
00:05:02We were all young men.
00:05:06Under 25.
00:05:07Not married.
00:05:09You played football.
00:05:11Lots of beer.
00:05:13Lots of beer.
00:05:14But it was infested as well.
00:05:17We were eating alive with mosquitoes right from the start.
00:05:21There were hundreds of crabs.
00:05:24Hundreds.
00:05:24Now these things are huge.
00:05:28Dragonflies come out the bush.
00:05:30You know.
00:05:31Right in front of you.
00:05:32You know.
00:05:34Cut the life out of you.
00:05:37We were having a good time.
00:05:40Until the bombs started.
00:05:45And thought we'd be safe.
00:05:56Excuse me.
00:06:03We had no idea what we were letting ourselves in for.
00:06:11We were taken to a beach.
00:06:15That told us by Tanai to sit with our backs to the sea.
00:06:21Draw your knees up.
00:06:23Put your hands over your eyes.
00:06:24That is the sum total of my instructions.
00:06:29Minus 40 seconds.
00:06:31Close eyes.
00:06:33Close eyes.
00:06:34Close eyes.
00:06:35There was about 2,000 of us.
00:06:40People worked out the navigation.
00:06:42We were nine miles away from two air bombs.
00:06:47All we had were a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.
00:06:53There was fear.
00:06:56I was frightened.
00:06:57They were all kids.
00:07:01A couple of friends of mine.
00:07:02Who were wetting themselves.
00:07:0425.
00:07:06Some of them were praying.
00:07:09And some of them wanted the mothers.
00:07:135.
00:07:144.
00:07:153.
00:07:162.
00:07:171.
00:07:18Flash.
00:07:22Boom.
00:07:24The crescendo.
00:07:35The flash was so bright I could see through my hands.
00:07:41You saw all the bones, tendons, everything through your hands.
00:07:47You feel it go through your body.
00:07:50You're like a light bulb.
00:07:54There was this humongous ball of fire boiling up into the sky.
00:08:01Hurtling toward you is this thick line.
00:08:04This blast.
00:08:08Hits you.
00:08:15It blew grown men off the feet.
00:08:21You got burned.
00:08:22But you didn't blister.
00:08:26It was that hot.
00:08:31I felt that my body was boiling.
00:08:36It was as if I was being microwaved.
00:08:40This tremor inside.
00:08:44You felt it was just going to explode.
00:08:48People picked themselves up and started to run away.
00:08:52Where we were running to.
00:08:54God only knows.
00:08:55Come to escape.
00:08:58We thought we were going to die.
00:09:07Then after all of that, my next order was back to work.
00:09:16Nobody told us anything.
00:09:21We were just left to get on with life.
00:09:36Film showing the bursting of the first atom bomb, the experimental one in New Mexico.
00:09:42During the war, the British had played a huge part in the Manhattan Project in the United States,
00:09:49which created two different kinds of atomic weapon.
00:09:54One was dropped on Hiroshima, the other on Nagasaki.
00:09:59The two targets, 100,000 people dead in an instant.
00:10:03And that figure by the end of 1945 will have doubled as a consequence of radiation poisoning.
00:10:11At the end of the war, the Americans made it illegal to cooperate on nuclear weapons development with any other
00:10:18nation.
00:10:20For Britain, it was clear that they were going to have to develop the weapon on their own.
00:10:25It was, of course, inevitable. Now Russia has perceived it.
00:10:30The developing Cold War, Soviet Union glowering across the Iron Curtain.
00:10:35There was a sense in which this was a weapon that was needed to be at the top table with
00:10:40the Americans.
00:10:42The testing of weapons on the UK homeland was politically untenable because it would have exposed the population to risk.
00:10:52They would need to find another part of the world for it to be politically safe.
00:11:13The Admiralty made a search through their charts, and it seemed as if the Montebello Islands would offer everything that
00:11:22we wanted.
00:11:29Britain saw itself as the master, and Australia was very much the servant.
00:11:36Can we have the all ready signals, please?
00:11:38There were very few questions asked.
00:11:41Five, four, three, two, one, now.
00:11:51This was Britain's first atomic explosion.
00:11:58The UK graduated as an atomic bomb power, but within the space of a month, the United States had tested
00:12:07its first hydrogen bomb.
00:12:14Winston Churchill said the gap between a hydrogen bomb and an atomic bomb was about the same gap as between
00:12:21the atomic bomb and a bow and arrow.
00:12:30By 1953, the Soviet Union would have tested its own hydrogen bomb, and Britain finds itself having to start almost
00:12:38from scratch again.
00:12:41The hydrogen bomb is now as necessary as the atomic bomb had been before it.
00:13:11The British considered Emu Field, and later Maralinga, to be empty bombs.
00:13:16The British said that it was a very easy land, uninhabited.
00:13:18But they were aware that these were homelands of Aboriginal people.
00:13:27Aboriginal people crisscross through these lands from generations to generations.
00:13:33My grandparents and their parents walked through country maintaining language, maintaining culture, maintaining their spiritual connection to this country.
00:13:45and they've been doing that for thousands of years.
00:13:50There was no consent from traditional owners,
00:13:53no consultation at all.
00:13:57People were living there.
00:13:59Many of them was loaded on trucks and moved to various locations
00:14:04away from those sites.
00:14:08There was lots of grief and trauma
00:14:11because of the British testing program.
00:14:23Operation Totem consisted of two nuclear weapons tests.
00:14:27They were highly experimental.
00:14:31Sir William Penny flew to the site.
00:14:33On his shoulders lay the responsibility of deciding the exact firing date,
00:14:38taking into account the prevailing weather conditions.
00:14:42The British mission was headed by William Penny,
00:14:45a physicist who came to be the father of the British bomb,
00:14:49the British Oppenheimer.
00:14:54Meteorologists warned William Penny about the wind directions,
00:14:59which were likely to interfere with safe testing of Totem One.
00:15:04But those warnings were ignored by William Penny
00:15:07because he was in a hurry to get this weapon tested.
00:15:13William Penny and the scientists were under extreme political and military pressure.
00:15:18And if you're under pressure of that kind, corners must end up being cut.
00:15:25They were more concerned about speed than safety.
00:15:42The bomb was detonated and as a direct result, a meteorological phenomenon occurred.
00:15:51A cloud detached itself from the main atomic cloud.
00:15:56And it moved approximately 170 kilometres or so, rolling across the countryside.
00:16:06Dad was a young boy at the time.
00:16:09Dad was a young boy at the time.
00:16:09They were playing in the sand dunes on that day.
00:16:14That morning, they heard the first sound.
00:16:20The ground shook.
00:16:24You can feel it.
00:16:26I remember this black mist coming over
00:16:33and quietly rolling through the mulca trees.
00:16:37Black and shiny, oily looking.
00:16:42And it went over our camp.
00:16:46There was panic in the camp then, in the sand dunes.
00:16:50You know, Nanamob were digging holes to protect the children.
00:16:55That afternoon, people were showing signs of sickness.
00:17:01Our older generation were starting to pass.
00:17:05And my grandparents were digging grave sites.
00:17:12Soon after, Dad's eyesight was impacted.
00:17:18I become blind in one eye.
00:17:22I feel sorry for myself.
00:17:26I cried for my eye.
00:17:27Black.
00:17:29Four years after, Dad was completely blind.
00:17:35That was it.
00:17:37I opened my eyes.
00:17:39Black.
00:17:42And that's when his world turned into darkness.
00:17:47The country's scarred.
00:17:49The people are scarred.
00:17:54Generations are still feeling the trauma today.
00:18:00And it's so hard to explain to Western culture and Western people about this.
00:18:11Because white men don't see it.
00:18:15They don't hear.
00:18:17They don't smell country.
00:18:20They don't feel it.
00:18:25You can never bring it back.
00:18:31And that's unjust.
00:18:35That really is unjust.
00:18:47That really is unjust.
00:19:01The British were now set on a course towards a hydrogen weapon.
00:19:07The Mosaic series were urgent tests to refine the design of a hydrogen weapon.
00:19:16They were also looking to see the effects of explosions on equipment and, sadly, on personnel as well.
00:19:28I was allocated to a ship called HMS Diana,
00:19:33which happened to be the ship that was chosen to attend the nuclear tests at Montebello.
00:19:41The object of the exercise was to see how servicemen would react to a nuclear war where they'd have to
00:19:51cope with fallout.
00:20:01Do you know Portia's speech from The Merchant of Venice?
00:20:06The quality of mercy is not strained.
00:20:10Drop us as the gentle rain from heaven.
00:20:14And they would have us believe that this nuclear fallout was just the gentle rain from heaven.
00:20:21It wasn't.
00:20:22It was toxic.
00:20:23And it was deadly.
00:20:24It was ionizing radiation.
00:20:29HMS Diana was the designated guinea pig ship for Operation Mosaic.
00:20:36The ship was sent into the fallout cloud for both the Mosaic bombs as a deliberate strategy to understand what
00:20:44would happen when a ship went through an atomic cloud.
00:20:52The mission of the ship was to sail into the toxic fallout of the nuclear blast.
00:21:01To follow directly as it moves.
00:21:07There is no doubt that the British government intentionally put men in harm's way.
00:21:14I was used.
00:21:18Everybody on that ship were used.
00:21:22You weren't given a choice in this.
00:21:25And if that's not being used, tell me what is.
00:21:29If the MOT are honest, they would say that.
00:21:42Susie Boniface.
00:21:44A very nice lady.
00:21:46And I think I'm a name in her little black book.
00:21:51I would be in love with Susie, but not at my time of life.
00:21:57I'll soon have a boiled egg lightly done.
00:22:02This is the longest running scandal in British history.
00:22:06There is nothing bigger or worse than what's happened to the nuclear veterans.
00:22:11I've been working on it probably about 20 years.
00:22:15The whole thing was one big experiment.
00:22:18In 1955, the Prime Minister Anthony Eden was briefed by the scientists that it could damage troops' DNA.
00:22:27And his response was, it's a pity, but we can't help it.
00:22:32Of the 300 or so men who were on HMS Diana, about half of those who were found to have
00:22:39died since, died from tumours of some sort.
00:22:41And they generally have increased rates of prostate, bladder, kidney and blood cancers.
00:22:47It was just, we're going to sail a warship through fallout, on two occasions, for eight hours each time.
00:22:55The effect on hardware was considered of far more importance than the effect on the men.
00:23:03Who were expendable.
00:23:11The British are going very hard and fast on hydrogen bomb development by 1956.
00:23:18They are seeking to narrow the gap between themselves and the Russians and the Americans in this weaponry.
00:23:25And part and parcel of the British quest is to understand more about this phenomenon called fallout.
00:23:38Operation Buffalo consisted of four atomic weapons tests.
00:23:43Britain needed the scientific data that was coming out of the Maralinga tests to go to the main game, the
00:23:55hydrogen bomb.
00:23:58I was to be a part of a radiation monitoring team.
00:24:06This was the first time in Maralinga that an aircraft would be required to fly actually into the mushroom cloud.
00:24:17The objective was to take a sample.
00:24:22We tore down the runway.
00:24:26This was my first experience in flying in a jet.
00:24:31We then reached our predetermined point.
00:24:35We circled.
00:24:38We got to the point where the explosion took place.
00:24:46And we turned towards it.
00:24:55One's natural instinct is to go in the opposite direction, not towards it.
00:25:01One's natural instinct is to go in the middle of the river.
00:25:05That's where anxiety comes in.
00:25:11It was at that point,
00:25:15I looked down and saw this inferno.
00:25:21Crimson black smoke billowing up towards us.
00:25:27I didn't think we were going to make it.
00:25:33the cloud was rising
00:25:37it was coming up at an alarming rate
00:25:42this fear
00:25:46I felt so vulnerable
00:25:50how we got so close and won't vaporise
00:25:52I just don't know
00:25:55the gauges started to fluctuate
00:26:00this enormous shockwave
00:26:03flipped the aircraft over
00:26:06I was literally hanging by these straps
00:26:09we were more or less upside down but climbing
00:26:14fortunately
00:26:15away from the bomb
00:26:20the thought did occur to me
00:26:24was it in the hand of God
00:26:29the shockwave
00:26:31undoubtedly saved our lives
00:26:37whether it was the intensity of that noise that shook
00:26:43or the electromagnetic pulse
00:26:50my hands have shaken
00:26:52ever since
00:27:09my other role was ground sampling
00:27:12of craters
00:27:15our mission then was to walk directly towards the crater
00:27:19where we were able to take samples from the rim
00:27:24the sheer heat of the explosion
00:27:27converted the sand into glass
00:27:29it was like thin ice
00:27:35a significant number of the men
00:27:37were deliberately and knowingly exposed
00:27:42in Operation Buffalo
00:27:43they ordered hundreds of men
00:27:45to walk
00:27:47march
00:27:48and crawl on their elbows
00:27:50through fallout
00:27:51in order to see how much of it stuck on their uniforms
00:27:58it didn't take me long to realize
00:28:00that we were being put at risk
00:28:06safety was of secondary consideration
00:28:10the primary objective
00:28:12was to get that weapon
00:28:14at any cost
00:28:26Britain was moving very fast
00:28:29towards testing its hydrogen weapon
00:28:32and it began Operation Grapple
00:28:41the Australian government had demanded
00:28:43that the British not test a hydrogen weapon
00:28:46on Australian territory
00:28:47and so they finally settled on Christmas Island
00:28:51in the Pacific
00:28:54the British hydrogen bomb project
00:28:56was something of a rush job
00:28:59the international community
00:29:01led by the two H-bomb powers of the time
00:29:04America and Russia
00:29:05decided to put an end
00:29:07to atmospheric testing
00:29:08which would be disastrous
00:29:09if it happened before the UK
00:29:11had tested its first thermonuclear weapon
00:29:15they need to get this weapon tested
00:29:17before that ban comes in
00:29:24the neglect of safety
00:29:26at Christmas Island was appalling
00:29:27the many personnel
00:29:30but also the people of Christmas Island
00:29:33were subjected to extraordinary risk
00:29:37there was a small
00:29:38but vibrant local community
00:29:41on that island
00:29:42those at the top
00:29:43were not too worried
00:29:45about the human cost
00:29:46this was a very menacing
00:29:49Cold War environment
00:29:50which they would have felt
00:29:51I think at the time
00:29:52trumped some collateral damage
00:29:55even some collateral human damage
00:30:01they took us to a beach
00:30:03where we knew
00:30:05that we were closer to the bomb
00:30:07we didn't know why
00:30:09but they did tell the lads
00:30:11they'd get a better view of it
00:30:15an atomic bomb
00:30:17dropped 20 miles away from us
00:30:27for the men involved in these tests
00:30:31there is no safe distance
00:30:34from an atomic explosion
00:30:38I never had special defensive clothing issued
00:30:45the initial blast of gamma radiation
00:30:48and ultraviolet radiation
00:30:50plus the heat that was generated
00:30:52were probably the most significant causes
00:30:55of radiation exposure
00:30:56there was everything flying past us
00:30:59coconuts and bits of trees
00:31:01high energy electromagnetic energy sources
00:31:05that can penetrate almost anything
00:31:07protection zero
00:31:10electrons or beta radiation
00:31:12there wasn't one on that beach
00:31:16had a monitor
00:31:18neutrons from the nucleus of the atom
00:31:21again can penetrate almost anything
00:31:23we had no idea what we'd been exposed to
00:31:27protons can be fired off like cannonballs
00:31:30that have the potential to do the most damage
00:31:35the initial blast though
00:31:37is really just one aspect
00:31:40of the destructive power
00:31:42further away from the zone
00:31:44the source of radiation of most importance
00:31:46would have come from the fallout
00:31:48the byproducts of the initial explosions
00:31:51all of which have potentially
00:31:53significant biological consequences
00:31:58the mushroom cloud
00:32:00we saw it sucking up
00:32:02all the sea
00:32:04all the sand
00:32:05up in the air
00:32:08it rained for three days after the bomb
00:32:11so
00:32:12all that debris
00:32:13all that sand
00:32:14all that rubbish
00:32:15was on the island
00:32:18but the MOD said
00:32:20no it was too far away
00:32:21were it bollocks
00:32:25a question that comes up is
00:32:27how much did we know
00:32:28when these tests were being conducted
00:32:30and the answer is
00:32:31we knew enough
00:32:33we knew enough to know
00:32:35that this was dangerous
00:32:38the soldiers
00:32:39the scientists
00:32:40this population
00:32:41this community
00:32:42involved in these tests
00:32:44were living in an area
00:32:46that was significantly contaminated
00:32:50we had to breathe irradiated air
00:32:52drink irradiated water
00:32:55eat irradiated fish
00:32:59individuals consuming
00:33:00these local products
00:33:01will be exposed
00:33:03to that radioactivity
00:33:07Operation Grapple
00:33:08made Britain
00:33:10the third nation
00:33:11in the world
00:33:12to possess the hydrogen weapon
00:33:15the largest of the grapple bombs
00:33:17was about 200 times the size
00:33:20of the bomb
00:33:20dropped on Hiroshima
00:33:25radiation safety standards
00:33:26were very much secondary
00:33:28to the timetable
00:33:29to build the British bomb
00:33:35we were up against
00:33:36an enemy
00:33:37that we can either see
00:33:39smell
00:33:42touch
00:33:45we would take
00:33:47toxic particles
00:33:49home with us
00:33:55when I think
00:33:56of what happened
00:33:57afterwards
00:33:58and the lads dying
00:33:59and
00:34:03yeah
00:34:05then I get upset
00:34:06yeah
00:34:08can't help it
00:34:11sorry about that
00:34:12sorry about that
00:34:13sorry about that
00:34:24this is a medical study
00:34:26by the British nuclear veterans
00:34:29association
00:34:30in 1985
00:34:31which actually shows
00:34:33the names
00:34:35what they died from
00:34:36their ages
00:34:37and where they were.
00:34:40Christmas Island, Montebella, Christmas Island, Maralinga.
00:34:46There's only 10% of them left.
00:34:49And many of them have had decades of chronic illness.
00:34:54What they died from, leukaemia, leukaemia, cancer,
00:34:58heart disease, cancer, heart failure,
00:35:01cancer, cancer, cancer, cancer, cancer, cancer,
00:35:04cancer, cancer, cancer, cancer, you could go on.
00:35:09Something has happened to them to make them
00:35:11some of the sickest people in the country,
00:35:13whatever could it be.
00:35:16Age groups, 26-year-old, 25-year-old, 31-year-old,
00:35:2143, 44, every one of them have died young.
00:35:27I was as fit as a butcher's dog.
00:35:30I've had cancer.
00:35:32I've also had pernicious anemia since I was 26.
00:35:38In 2007, there was a genetic study from New Zealand
00:35:41which found that the veterans themselves
00:35:43had a rate of genetic damage
00:35:44similar to that of clean-up workers at Chernobyl.
00:35:48I had cancer of the bowel.
00:35:50That wasn't terribly pleasant.
00:35:52The effects are at the level of the genes,
00:35:55neurological function, heart function.
00:35:59I've now had seven heart operations.
00:36:02I'm still suffering from that now.
00:36:04I've had 93,93 skin cancers removed.
00:36:09Even very low doses of radiation
00:36:12can cause damage to the DNA.
00:36:15I had two massive tumours come up on my right-hand side.
00:36:20I could rest my elbow on them.
00:36:22We often don't discover the consequences
00:36:26until much after the fact
00:36:28when the consequences have done great harm already.
00:36:33I've been lumbered with lipomers,
00:36:36probably 150.
00:36:39There's a big one there, there.
00:36:41I have my abdomen everywhere, you know.
00:36:44I'm sure you don't want to go on a strip show, but...
00:36:49The ionising radiation
00:36:50is with you for the rest of your days.
00:36:53You can't get rid of it.
00:36:57The UK personnel were not the only ones to suffer.
00:37:02It's also local communities.
00:37:22The story of the British nuclear tests
00:37:25is one of government secrecy.
00:37:28The minor trials at Maralinga
00:37:30were among the most dangerous scientific experiments
00:37:33ever held in Australia,
00:37:36particularly Vixen A and Vixen B.
00:37:39Very little was shared
00:37:42even with the Australian government
00:37:43and nothing was shared with the Australian public.
00:37:48I was in the Australian Air Force.
00:37:50Come on.
00:37:52I worked on the Vixen B series of tests.
00:37:57My job there
00:37:59was to build the firing platforms
00:38:03There was beryllium,
00:38:05natural uranium
00:38:06and of course there was
00:38:08the 24 kilograms of plutonium.
00:38:11That was blown to pieces
00:38:13in the experiments.
00:38:15It was the most devastating thing
00:38:18that ever happened at Maralinga.
00:38:23It created one of the most contaminated places
00:38:27in the world.
00:38:33The British government did not tell
00:38:35the Australian government
00:38:36that it was using plutonium-239
00:38:39in the Vixen B experiments.
00:38:41Roughly 22 kilograms
00:38:43of plutonium-239
00:38:45was left lying around the site.
00:38:48That is easily enough
00:38:50to kill everyone on the planet.
00:38:55Australia just accepted
00:38:56at face value
00:38:57the assurances they were given.
00:39:02That was the case
00:39:03for most of the tests
00:39:06including the atomic bomb tests.
00:39:09The cloud itself
00:39:11is carried away by the wind.
00:39:13The cloud is now
00:39:14well on its way
00:39:15across the continent of Australia.
00:39:18The British knew
00:39:19that there were people
00:39:20living in the vicinity.
00:39:23They knew
00:39:24that they were going
00:39:25to be at risk.
00:39:27They gave assurances
00:39:28all the same
00:39:29to the Australian government
00:39:30that there was no such risk.
00:39:39I was based
00:39:40at Woomera
00:39:41for a short while.
00:39:44Woomera
00:39:45was an Australian
00:39:46rocket range
00:39:47but was largely
00:39:49run by the British.
00:39:52Woomera
00:39:53was the operational base
00:39:55for a large chunk
00:39:56of British
00:39:58post-war weapons testing.
00:39:59It was a community
00:40:01that was peopled
00:40:02by military personnel
00:40:03but also civilians
00:40:05and their families.
00:40:09My wife
00:40:11worked in the hospital.
00:40:13It became
00:40:14noticeable
00:40:15that there were
00:40:17more and more
00:40:18babies and little
00:40:19children
00:40:20being buried
00:40:22at the
00:40:22Woomera Cemetery.
00:40:25The missus
00:40:27delivered some
00:40:28of them babies
00:40:28babies.
00:40:32I used to go down
00:40:33to the cemetery.
00:40:36There'd be
00:40:36another dozen
00:40:37little graves
00:40:39sometimes
00:40:41with a name
00:40:44sometimes
00:40:44nothing.
00:40:47All I could do
00:40:48was wonder
00:40:49how these children
00:40:50died.
00:40:55I reported
00:40:56in 2003
00:40:58that there were
00:40:58dozens
00:40:59of babies
00:41:00who died
00:41:01at Woomera
00:41:02in inexplicable
00:41:03circumstances.
00:41:05Families
00:41:06from the base
00:41:07went on
00:41:08picnics
00:41:08and actually
00:41:09watched the
00:41:10nuclear bombs
00:41:11going off
00:41:14600k away.
00:41:17then the cloud
00:41:18would come
00:41:19over the top
00:41:19of the town.
00:41:21We know
00:41:22that Woomera
00:41:23probably had
00:41:24one of the
00:41:24highest concentrations
00:41:25of fallout
00:41:26across the whole
00:41:27of Australia.
00:41:34all these poor
00:41:36little kids
00:41:41four months old
00:41:43stillborn
00:41:44seven months old
00:41:48stillborn.
00:41:50You're looking
00:41:52at extraordinary
00:41:53number of
00:41:54infants
00:41:55babies
00:41:58I've counted
00:42:0022
00:42:01stillborns
00:42:02another
00:42:0434
00:42:05who were
00:42:07either
00:42:07days old
00:42:08or months
00:42:10old
00:42:11and
00:42:13another
00:42:1312
00:42:14toddlers.
00:42:19It's quite
00:42:20overwhelming.
00:42:23These people
00:42:24are completely
00:42:25forgotten victims
00:42:26of the British
00:42:27nuclear test
00:42:27programme.
00:42:32And you've got
00:42:33to ask yourself
00:42:33the question
00:42:34why.
00:42:35What happened?
00:42:39Officialdom
00:42:40has always blamed
00:42:41these deaths
00:42:42on heat waves
00:42:44but a lot of them
00:42:45occurred in what
00:42:46we have here
00:42:47as winter.
00:42:55records involving
00:42:56their deaths
00:42:57remain sealed
00:42:57by the Australian
00:42:58National Archives
00:43:00and you can't
00:43:01access the
00:43:02autopsy results.
00:43:07It's time
00:43:08that secrecy
00:43:08ended.
00:43:12What's written
00:43:13in the medical
00:43:13records?
00:43:16You can't get
00:43:18them.
00:43:20the question
00:43:22is simple
00:43:23what killed
00:43:24the babies
00:43:27and I'll
00:43:28probably die
00:43:29never knowing.
00:43:35I don't
00:43:36go back
00:43:37to the
00:43:37cemetery
00:43:41too painful.
00:43:44It's too painful.
00:43:47None of them
00:43:48should have
00:43:48suffered that.
00:44:02is it difficult
00:44:03to talk
00:44:03to them?
00:44:08Oh, without
00:44:09doubt.
00:44:15There are huge
00:44:16wounds.
00:44:22We had a son.
00:44:24We named him
00:44:26Stephen
00:44:28and everything
00:44:29was going
00:44:30great.
00:44:33Until one
00:44:33morning
00:44:34we woke up
00:44:37and my wife
00:44:39screamed and
00:44:41said Stephen
00:44:43isn't breathing.
00:44:49I picked him
00:44:50out of his
00:44:50cot
00:44:51and started
00:44:52giving him
00:44:53the kiss
00:44:53of life.
00:44:56Panic.
00:44:57Sheer panic.
00:45:02Eventually
00:45:02the ambulance
00:45:03came and
00:45:05they took him
00:45:06to the hospital
00:45:09and I knew
00:45:11he was dead.
00:45:13I just knew.
00:45:18The police
00:45:19came.
00:45:21They arrested
00:45:22me and my
00:45:23wife under
00:45:23caution.
00:45:25Three days
00:45:26later the police
00:45:27said with no
00:45:28charges it was
00:45:29a cot death.
00:45:32The death
00:45:33certificate said
00:45:34he died of
00:45:35pneumonia.
00:45:37If that
00:45:38little baby
00:45:39had got
00:45:40pneumonia
00:45:41when we
00:45:42put him
00:45:42to bed
00:45:43that night
00:45:44we would
00:45:45have known
00:45:46he was
00:45:47perfectly
00:45:48healthy
00:45:49when we
00:45:49put him
00:45:49to bed.
00:45:55I was
00:45:56numb.
00:46:00The only
00:46:01time
00:46:02I really
00:46:03really
00:46:04understood
00:46:07was that
00:46:08when the
00:46:08undertaker
00:46:09came with
00:46:09his
00:46:10coffin
00:46:16a little
00:46:20white
00:46:20box
00:46:33It was
00:46:34the
00:46:35hardest
00:46:36day of
00:46:38my life.
00:46:39I was
00:46:40suffering.
00:46:42My
00:46:43wife
00:46:45was in
00:46:46beds.
00:46:53the
00:46:54coroner
00:46:54report
00:46:55showed
00:46:56that his
00:46:57lungs
00:46:57possibly
00:46:58had not
00:46:59formed
00:47:00correctly.
00:47:03The problem
00:47:04is I
00:47:05cannot prove
00:47:06it.
00:47:09I blame
00:47:11the MOD
00:47:12and the
00:47:13experiments
00:47:14they did
00:47:15on us
00:47:15for
00:47:17Stephen's
00:47:17death.
00:47:22and I
00:47:24always
00:47:24will.
00:47:32We have
00:47:33now
00:47:34three and
00:47:36four
00:47:36generations
00:47:37being born
00:47:39with problems.
00:47:47there's
00:47:47absolutely
00:47:48no doubt
00:47:48that
00:47:49radiation
00:47:50causes
00:47:51genetic
00:47:52damage.
00:47:54That
00:47:55damage
00:47:55can then
00:47:55be
00:47:55transmitted
00:47:56to the
00:47:56next
00:47:57generation.
00:48:06My
00:48:06father
00:48:07was
00:48:07David
00:48:07Peirce
00:48:08a
00:48:08flight
00:48:08lieutenant
00:48:09in the RAF
00:48:10who served
00:48:10at
00:48:11Maralinga
00:48:11in the
00:48:121960s.
00:48:15The
00:48:16minor trials
00:48:16is documented
00:48:18that they
00:48:18were the
00:48:19most dangerous
00:48:20and the
00:48:20most polluting.
00:48:22Dad said
00:48:22that the
00:48:23sand was
00:48:23blowing off
00:48:24the
00:48:24contaminated
00:48:25area
00:48:25onto the
00:48:26uncontaminated
00:48:27area
00:48:27onto your
00:48:28land rover
00:48:28your bed
00:48:29your clothes
00:48:30your food
00:48:31all covered
00:48:32in this
00:48:32fine layer
00:48:33of sand.
00:48:35And he
00:48:35said that
00:48:36was radioactive
00:48:36sand.
00:48:42when I
00:48:43was born
00:48:43it was
00:48:44obvious
00:48:44at the
00:48:46moment
00:48:46anyone
00:48:46saw me
00:48:47that there
00:48:47was an
00:48:47issue
00:48:49but
00:48:49the doctors
00:48:50just took
00:48:51me away
00:48:51from mum
00:48:52and they
00:48:53left it
00:48:53to dad
00:48:54to break
00:48:55the news
00:48:56to her
00:48:56that I
00:48:56was
00:48:57disabled.
00:48:59But then
00:48:59he just
00:49:00said a
00:49:00phrase like
00:49:01I think
00:49:02it's my
00:49:02fault
00:49:03because of
00:49:04my time
00:49:04in Australia.
00:49:10I've been
00:49:10told there's
00:49:11about 200
00:49:11forms of
00:49:11short stature
00:49:12but I don't
00:49:13fit any
00:49:13of them.
00:49:14I'm unique.
00:49:17I'd always
00:49:17said I would
00:49:18not have
00:49:19children because
00:49:20I didn't want
00:49:20to pass on
00:49:21any of the
00:49:22genetic damage
00:49:22that I had
00:49:23but I met
00:49:25a wonderful
00:49:25woman and
00:49:27we got
00:49:27married in
00:49:282019
00:49:30and then
00:49:31we decided
00:49:32well we
00:49:33can try it.
00:49:38We have
00:49:39a wonderful
00:49:42son
00:49:45and he's
00:49:46brilliant.
00:49:48He didn't
00:49:49escape though.
00:49:51He has
00:49:52a genetic
00:49:53condition
00:49:55which
00:49:56mean his
00:49:57teeth
00:49:58are crumbling
00:49:59and it's
00:50:00quite a rare
00:50:00condition
00:50:01which again
00:50:02fits well
00:50:03with our
00:50:04community
00:50:04all the
00:50:05conditions
00:50:05that are
00:50:06unique like
00:50:06mine or
00:50:07rare.
00:50:10The hope
00:50:11is that
00:50:12that's all
00:50:12he'll get.
00:50:14The worry
00:50:15is that
00:50:15some of
00:50:16these problems
00:50:16come out
00:50:17in adolescence.
00:50:20That's the
00:50:20nature of
00:50:21what we deal
00:50:22with.
00:50:23It's like
00:50:23these invisible
00:50:23bullets that
00:50:24keep being
00:50:24fired.
00:50:26Sometimes
00:50:27they hit,
00:50:27sometimes
00:50:27they don't.
00:50:33This is a
00:50:34Sunday
00:50:34mirror
00:50:35statistical
00:50:35study of
00:50:36the health
00:50:37problems of
00:50:37nuclear veterans
00:50:38and their
00:50:38families.
00:50:39So this is
00:50:40about 2002.
00:50:41Just the list
00:50:42of what's wrong
00:50:44here is enough
00:50:45to sort of
00:50:46scream at you
00:50:46that there's a
00:50:47problem.
00:50:48Severe
00:50:48eczema,
00:50:49face and
00:50:49hands,
00:50:50bowel
00:50:50malformation,
00:50:51problems with
00:50:51testicles,
00:50:52eye problems.
00:50:53A daughter
00:50:53and two
00:50:54grandchildren
00:50:54deformed feet,
00:50:56insides
00:50:57deformed,
00:50:58severe internal
00:50:59problems,
00:51:00dead at 15
00:51:00months,
00:51:01giantism,
00:51:03deformed hips,
00:51:04hole in the
00:51:04heart,
00:51:05dead at six
00:51:05months old
00:51:05from cancer,
00:51:07malformed vocal
00:51:07cords,
00:51:08heart and lung
00:51:09defects,
00:51:09two thumbs on
00:51:10one hand,
00:51:11deformed fingers
00:51:11and toes,
00:51:12webbed feet,
00:51:13just goes on,
00:51:14deformed penis,
00:51:16no anus,
00:51:17numerous
00:51:17miscarriages,
00:51:19you name it,
00:51:21they've had it.
00:51:23And there's no
00:51:24explanation as to
00:51:25why.
00:51:26Ministry of Defence
00:51:27has just never,
00:51:28ever done the
00:51:29genetic studies.
00:51:30If it wasn't
00:51:31radiation,
00:51:31well then what
00:51:32was it?
00:51:33They've never said.
00:51:37My wife had
00:51:39over a dozen
00:51:40miscarriages.
00:51:42One of my
00:51:43children had
00:51:44been born with
00:51:46two wombs,
00:51:47one hidden
00:51:48behind the
00:51:48other.
00:51:50My son,
00:51:52his right eye
00:51:53was buried
00:51:54into his nose
00:51:55so all you
00:51:56could see
00:51:56was the
00:51:57whiteness
00:51:57and his
00:51:59left eye
00:51:59was locked.
00:52:03Another son,
00:52:04he was born
00:52:05with two large
00:52:06holes in his
00:52:06heart.
00:52:09There was a
00:52:09survey of
00:52:10veterans'
00:52:11families by
00:52:12the University
00:52:12of Liverpool
00:52:13which found
00:52:14they reported
00:52:14three times
00:52:15the normal
00:52:15rate of
00:52:16miscarriages
00:52:16and ten times
00:52:17the normal
00:52:17rate of birth
00:52:18defects in
00:52:18their children.
00:52:23There is this
00:52:23feeling that
00:52:24the whole
00:52:25community
00:52:27was part of
00:52:28that experiment.
00:52:32my dad was
00:52:34sent to
00:52:35Christmas Island.
00:52:36He witnessed
00:52:3824 detonations
00:52:39in 78 days.
00:52:43My father
00:52:43didn't really
00:52:44talk about
00:52:44his time
00:52:45at the tests.
00:52:46He'd signed
00:52:47the official
00:52:47secret act.
00:52:50He started
00:52:51to suffer
00:52:51lots of
00:52:52health problems
00:52:53problems in
00:52:53terms of
00:52:54his heart.
00:52:57He always
00:52:59wondered
00:52:59was there
00:53:00a connection.
00:53:03And he had
00:53:04a heart attack.
00:53:0752 is no
00:53:09age to go.
00:53:12Unfortunately
00:53:13my brother died
00:53:1518 months
00:53:16later
00:53:16with exactly
00:53:17the same
00:53:18condition
00:53:18that my
00:53:19father had.
00:53:20So he was
00:53:2131 years old
00:53:22when he had
00:53:24again a
00:53:25massive heart attack.
00:53:28My sister
00:53:29she's had
00:53:30tumours removed
00:53:31in her face
00:53:32and her
00:53:33eyesight is
00:53:34deteriorating
00:53:35now and
00:53:36eventually
00:53:36she will
00:53:37go blind.
00:53:39And then
00:53:39in 2022
00:53:41when I was
00:53:4251
00:53:44I suffered
00:53:45a cardiac
00:53:45arrest.
00:53:49I was
00:53:50gone for
00:53:508 minutes.
00:53:54Unfortunately
00:53:54my son
00:53:55witnessed
00:53:56the whole
00:53:56thing.
00:53:57He's 15
00:53:58years old.
00:53:59I worry
00:54:00about my
00:54:01son.
00:54:02I worry
00:54:03about kids
00:54:04that he
00:54:04may have.
00:54:05It's a
00:54:06theme that
00:54:06runs through
00:54:07all of us.
00:54:10This whole
00:54:11thing affects
00:54:11families in
00:54:12so many
00:54:12ways.
00:54:14It's
00:54:15a disgrace
00:54:16that it's
00:54:16got to
00:54:16this point.
00:54:36one, two,
00:54:37three, four,
00:54:38rock and
00:54:39cross.
00:54:40And you go
00:54:41bump,
00:54:42bump.
00:54:45I've learned
00:54:46to live with
00:54:46it.
00:54:49The fear
00:54:50of what's
00:54:51going to happen
00:54:52down the line.
00:55:02I don't think
00:55:03a lot of us
00:55:04ever got
00:55:05over the
00:55:05shock.
00:55:10the fear
00:55:11before it
00:55:12and even
00:55:13after it.
00:55:14Christmas
00:55:14silence
00:55:15didn't live
00:55:16in hell
00:55:16for me.
00:55:19They
00:55:20started
00:55:20planning
00:55:21tests
00:55:21around
00:55:2253.
00:55:25They
00:55:25saw us
00:55:26come and
00:55:27go and
00:55:28let us
00:55:28die.
00:55:30not
00:55:31poison
00:55:32radiation
00:55:33in the
00:55:34sky.
00:55:43I did
00:55:44have
00:55:44nightmares.
00:55:46I started
00:55:48wetting the
00:55:48bed.
00:55:50I was just
00:55:51screaming out
00:55:52in my
00:55:52sleep.
00:55:54Screaming
00:55:55out.
00:55:57The
00:55:58atomic bomb
00:55:59is very
00:55:59dangerous.
00:56:00We must
00:56:01get ready
00:56:01for it.
00:56:04I'm the
00:56:05worst example
00:56:05of a British
00:56:06nuclear test
00:56:07veteran.
00:56:08I've got all
00:56:09my own hair,
00:56:10my own teeth,
00:56:12and I don't
00:56:13take one
00:56:13tablet.
00:56:16The injuries
00:56:17I have,
00:56:17you can't
00:56:18see.
00:56:20There is a
00:56:20bright flash,
00:56:21brighter than
00:56:22the sun.
00:56:22If you are
00:56:23not ready,
00:56:23it could hurt
00:56:24you in
00:56:25different ways.
00:56:27I started
00:56:28having a
00:56:28series of
00:56:29nightmares
00:56:31to fall in.
00:56:35I still
00:56:36get flashbacks.
00:56:38The vision
00:56:39grounded in my
00:56:41mind.
00:56:43Those flames
00:56:44coming up
00:56:44towards me.
00:56:47We must be
00:56:48ready to do
00:56:49the right thing
00:56:50until the
00:56:51atomic bomb
00:56:51explodes.
00:56:53I keep
00:56:54pushing everything
00:56:55to the back
00:56:57of my mind.
00:56:58Wash it
00:56:59away.
00:57:00Trauma.
00:57:02A sense
00:57:03of tension.
00:57:14I didn't know
00:57:14what fear was.
00:57:17After that
00:57:18first bomb,
00:57:20I knew what
00:57:21fear was going
00:57:22to be.
00:57:27I consider
00:57:28myself lucky
00:57:29compared to
00:57:30most.
00:57:31I've survived.
00:57:34We've had
00:57:35veterans who
00:57:36have committed
00:57:36suicides
00:57:38because they
00:57:38can't cope.
00:57:41Government
00:57:42studies show,
00:57:43compared to
00:57:44other veterans,
00:57:45every single
00:57:46decade, there's
00:57:47more suicides than
00:57:48there should be in
00:57:49this group.
00:57:49And I would
00:57:50argue that's
00:57:51because of the
00:57:52way that the
00:57:52British state
00:57:53have gaslighted
00:57:54these men.
00:57:56We're constantly
00:57:57living in this
00:57:58shadow.
00:58:00In the shadow
00:58:01of the bomb.
00:58:04We must all
00:58:05get ready now.
00:58:06Then, you're
00:58:08on your own.
00:58:10There exists
00:58:11within our society
00:58:12some dark
00:58:13forces that
00:58:15suppress the
00:58:16truth.
00:58:18And I've
00:58:19only believe
00:58:20that now.
00:58:23We've been
00:58:24betrayed.
00:58:27Shamefully.
00:58:31Betrayed.
00:58:37The official line
00:58:38is there is no
00:58:39causal link
00:58:40between the
00:58:41participation at
00:58:42the nuclear tests
00:58:43for the veterans
00:58:44and their health
00:58:45issues.
00:58:48If you speak
00:58:48to the MOD,
00:58:49they will tell
00:58:50you anyone
00:58:51who has an
00:58:51injury is able
00:58:52to claim a
00:58:53no-fault war
00:58:54pension.
00:58:55If you have a
00:58:56leg blown off
00:58:56in Afghanistan,
00:58:57you can prove
00:58:58it quite easily.
00:59:00But if you
00:59:00were irradiated,
00:59:02the MOD asks
00:59:03you to prove
00:59:03what your
00:59:04radiation dose
00:59:05was.
00:59:06These guys
00:59:06were never
00:59:07told what
00:59:08their doses
00:59:09were, and
00:59:10most of them
00:59:10didn't have a
00:59:10dose taken
00:59:11anyway.
00:59:12So the only
00:59:13real proof of
00:59:14what happened
00:59:15to them is
00:59:15their blood
00:59:15tests.
00:59:17The long-term
00:59:18position of the
00:59:19MOD has been
00:59:19that these
00:59:20blood tests
00:59:20simply didn't
00:59:21take place.
00:59:22But the
00:59:23veterans have
00:59:24told me
00:59:24they were
00:59:25tested throughout.
00:59:38I have asked
00:59:39for my blood
00:59:40records four
00:59:41times.
00:59:43So the MOD
00:59:44have either
00:59:45destroyed them,
00:59:47lost them,
00:59:48or will not
00:59:50release them
00:59:51because they
00:59:52could implicate
00:59:54them.
00:59:55The Maralinga
00:59:57records went
00:59:58to England.
00:59:59I believe the
01:00:00British government
01:00:01seized them.
01:00:03What does it say
01:00:05about what level
01:00:07of radiation we
01:00:09were subjected
01:00:09to?
01:00:13to?
01:00:14We have
01:00:14hundreds and
01:00:15hundreds of
01:00:16people who
01:00:17are telling
01:00:18us that
01:00:18their medical
01:00:18records are
01:00:19either incomplete
01:00:21or will not
01:00:22be released
01:00:23to them.
01:00:25I'm crying out
01:00:26to be diagnosed.
01:00:28My son's got a
01:00:29condition.
01:00:29This sort of
01:00:30information would
01:00:31help.
01:00:31We still have
01:00:32hundreds of
01:00:33years of
01:00:34children being
01:00:35born with
01:00:35conditions, so
01:00:36we need to
01:00:37start the
01:00:37research at
01:00:38ASAP.
01:00:41Successive
01:00:42governments have
01:00:43fought every
01:00:44legal action,
01:00:45fought every
01:00:46war pension
01:00:47claim.
01:00:48But in
01:00:502023, after
01:00:52a really long
01:00:53FOI battle, I
01:00:56was passed the
01:00:57document.
01:00:57It was
01:00:58earth-shattering.
01:01:03It contained
01:01:05150 documents
01:01:08all about blood
01:01:09and urine
01:01:10testing of
01:01:11troops, of
01:01:13civilians, of
01:01:15Australian
01:01:16personnel, and
01:01:18of Indigenous
01:01:18people.
01:01:19people.
01:01:22I was
01:01:23astonished at
01:01:25the contents.
01:01:26Blood
01:01:27testing, blood
01:01:30data, medical
01:01:32examinations on
01:01:33natives, everything
01:01:35that the MOD had
01:01:36said for 30 years
01:01:37that it didn't
01:01:38have.
01:01:39Hundreds and
01:01:41thousands of men
01:01:43were subject to
01:01:44orders for blood
01:01:45testing and had
01:01:46had it done.
01:01:47And they failed to
01:01:49disclose that to
01:01:50multiple courts.
01:01:53It was proof the
01:01:54MOD had been lying
01:01:56all this time.
01:02:01they had seen the
01:02:03problems of Hiroshima
01:02:04and Nagasaki.
01:02:07I am disgusted with
01:02:10our establishment
01:02:12because they knew.
01:02:17what they had said all
01:02:18the time, that they
01:02:19were guinea pigs, that
01:02:20they were lab rats, was
01:02:21right.
01:02:22They were
01:02:23experimented on as
01:02:25human beings during
01:02:26the entire course of
01:02:27the nuclear weapons
01:02:28tests.
01:02:34And it is
01:02:35continuing today
01:02:36because there are
01:02:38people in the
01:02:38atomic weapons
01:02:39establishment and
01:02:40higher up at the
01:02:41Ministry of Defence
01:02:42who know full well
01:02:43what these records
01:02:44show and who are
01:02:45using spurious and
01:02:46unlawful grounds of
01:02:48national security to
01:02:49prevent them being
01:02:50published.
01:02:54Those medical
01:02:55records are my
01:02:56life.
01:02:57We were really,
01:02:59really lab rats.
01:03:02They need to
01:03:03provide the blood
01:03:04tests that they have
01:03:06pretended they never
01:03:07took.
01:03:08And that would show
01:03:09definitively whether or
01:03:11not any radiation got
01:03:12inside those men.
01:03:17they have not known
01:03:19the truth.
01:03:21These records would
01:03:23provide answers.
01:03:27It's that pressure of
01:03:28not knowing that never
01:03:29goes away.
01:03:32The Kafkaesque attitude
01:03:34of their own government
01:03:35saying that what they
01:03:36experience can't possibly
01:03:37be the truth.
01:03:38And it's just not
01:03:42acceptable.
01:03:46The only thing that
01:03:48fixes this is political
01:03:50willpower.
01:04:15we have a dozen of those
01:04:17little kindlings.
01:04:17going to place them all in
01:04:20there in the right
01:04:20sequence and away you go.
01:04:25The nuclear weapons
01:04:26testing was a fairly long
01:04:28program.
01:04:29In the end,
01:04:31everything was
01:04:32contaminated.
01:04:35What they'd done was just
01:04:36picked up all the
01:04:37horrible looking debris,
01:04:39dug great big trenches
01:04:41with bulldozers and pushed
01:04:42it in there and covered it
01:04:44over.
01:04:45But the rubbish wasn't the
01:04:47dangerous part.
01:04:50The British government had
01:04:52told the Australian
01:04:53government that the land
01:04:54was not contaminated.
01:04:57But there were three million
01:04:59pieces of plutonium-239 on
01:05:02the site.
01:05:04Australia were going to hand
01:05:06Maralinga back to the
01:05:08Aboriginal lands.
01:05:11I said, well, they can't
01:05:12hand it back.
01:05:13It's too contaminated.
01:05:17And that's why I blew the
01:05:19whistle.
01:05:23I knew about the plutonium
01:05:25that was buried there and
01:05:26my concern was what was
01:05:28going to happen to the
01:05:29plutonium that was buried
01:05:30and who would be
01:05:31responsible for it.
01:05:34I took the risk of being
01:05:36locked up for breaking the
01:05:38Official Secrets Act.
01:05:41Avon Hudson made it
01:05:43impossible for the
01:05:44Australian government to
01:05:45ignore what was going on.
01:05:47He drew political
01:05:49attention to it.
01:05:51The Australian government
01:05:53granted a royal commission
01:05:54that I was fighting for.
01:06:02After 30 years of secrecy
01:06:04here, the commission is
01:06:06steadily lifting the lid off
01:06:07Britain's nuclear past.
01:06:09The British were horrified
01:06:11that we were going to even
01:06:13have it.
01:06:14There have been claims of
01:06:16cover-ups, secrecy and
01:06:17out-and-out lies all dragged
01:06:19kicking and squealing into
01:06:20the open.
01:06:25I know a lot of clever men
01:06:27came out here and set a lot
01:06:28of clever devices off, but it
01:06:30just strikes me as a massive
01:06:32monument to human folly.
01:06:39Yemi Lester also played a
01:06:41crucial role in the royal
01:06:43commission, bringing the harm
01:06:45caused by the British tests
01:06:47to light.
01:06:49Dad really wanted to say
01:06:51you hurt people and you
01:06:53killed people and you need to
01:06:55be held accountable for that.
01:07:03The royal commission ultimately
01:07:05led to a clean-up.
01:07:07The British were dragged
01:07:09kicking and screaming to
01:07:10contribute to the cost.
01:07:13They paid less than half.
01:07:17Vast areas remain too
01:07:20contaminated to ever be
01:07:21inhabited.
01:07:25For all the shortcomings of
01:07:27the Australian government,
01:07:28there has at least been an
01:07:30attempt to recognise the
01:07:31harm that was caused.
01:07:34This has not been matched by
01:07:36similar undertakings by the
01:07:38British government.
01:07:57We're supposed to be a nation
01:07:58that honours its heroes and part
01:08:00of our national story is the
01:08:02wars we have won and lost.
01:08:05The first duty of a country to
01:08:06those who keep it safe is to
01:08:08keep them safe in return.
01:08:12These men performed a vital
01:08:16role in protecting our country
01:08:17in the same way as the men who
01:08:20landed at D-Day.
01:08:21They are totally forgotten,
01:08:23utterly betrayed by their
01:08:25country.
01:08:27Many other veterans would say
01:08:29it's the MOD playbook.
01:08:31We delay and deny until they
01:08:32die.
01:08:34We're nearly at that point now.
01:08:36There's not very many of them
01:08:37left.
01:08:40How many more generations does
01:08:42it have to be?
01:08:59The legal action is about
01:09:01suing for access to these blood
01:09:03tests.
01:09:05The average age of these guys
01:09:07now is 85, 86 years old.
01:09:09We are losing them very fast,
01:09:12at least a couple of weeks.
01:09:16This is really a last opportunity
01:09:19for the MOD to come clean.
01:09:25If this goes to court, it will take
01:09:26five years and these men will be
01:09:28dead.
01:09:31We have to get an answer now
01:09:33with the threat of legal action
01:09:35that the MOD cannot hope to win.
01:09:37That's the only way it will happen.
01:09:38Right, Terry, Brian, let's have you
01:09:40in a line with Gina and Steve,
01:09:42please.
01:09:44It just made it possible for people
01:09:47at the top to say, we don't have to
01:09:49tell the truth.
01:09:53To me, it's a stain on Britain's
01:09:54history.
01:09:55Well, let's remove the stain.
01:09:57When we say, I want a sharp salute,
01:09:59crisp as you like.
01:10:00All right.
01:10:02No, not you two.
01:10:04Let's turn over the page and have a new
01:10:06chapter where we admit to what we did.
01:10:10There's nothing that's lasted longer
01:10:12than this.
01:10:13And it's a bit like you saw at Hillsborough
01:10:16and we've had at Grenfell and the
01:10:18infected blood scandal and the post office.
01:10:20What is right has been tipped upside down.
01:10:24And if we can find a way to fix the
01:10:28nuclear test veterans scandal, a lot of
01:10:31other problems get fixed.
01:10:40My granddaughter, Laura, is expecting a
01:10:45child.
01:10:47I hope she won't have to live through the
01:10:50pain that I lived through because of
01:10:53loss.
01:10:56The first great grandson, you've got to be
01:11:00happy.
01:11:01You've got to.
01:11:02All my fears, I'll overcome them all as
01:11:08I've done it all my life.
01:11:10I mean, I've been living with Stephen's
01:11:13death now for 60 years.
01:11:17That experience, even now, is very
01:11:23difficult.
01:11:24That's because no responsibility has been
01:11:26taken for the last 60 years.
01:11:28And that's what this has done to our
01:11:31family.
01:11:33This will live with me until in my head I
01:11:38can say we're over the hell.
01:11:40And we'll get there, won't we?
01:11:43We'll get there.
01:11:45It'll be so wonderful to behold of my
01:11:50great grandson and say, come here, lad.
01:11:57Let's have a, let's have a snuggle.
01:12:07People need to know the danger that this
01:12:11world is in with atomic bombs.
01:12:19This is a complete map of the moon, which I drew
01:12:25from my telescope.
01:12:27It took five years.
01:12:31I was once asked, did I believe in God?
01:12:36To which I quoted an old English
01:12:40astronomer, don't let's talk about God, let's
01:12:46talk about a cosmic intelligence that's
01:12:50ticking away in the background, great in life.
01:12:57Life is precious.
01:13:00Mankind should come together and cherish the earth
01:13:05life that he lives on.
01:13:09I hang onto those words.
01:14:00What the government did to us wasn't very nice.
01:14:06The men from our armed forces paid the price.
01:14:12Soon will come the day when the government will pay
01:14:17recognition and the medal to our brave men.
01:14:24The nuclear tests have been living hell for them.
01:14:28For the people who say no one to
01:14:28to take them are, we just want to have a
01:14:29great star難er of business to make them
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