Spy chiefs wanted the Duke of Edinburgh to front an audacious Cold War plan to prevent Soviet Union from sabotaging ritain's first atomic bomb test he idea was to fool the Russians into believing the test, codenamed Hurricane, had been delayed.
Official papers reveal UK intelligence agencies adopted a range of deception tactics to disguise the date and place of the planned test, set for the remote Monte Bello Islands in Western Australia They didn't want the Soviets gleaning valuable knowledge about the explosion, and even feared they might try to sabotage the test if they knew where and when it was taking place.
One of the deception tactics used in the an, codenamed Operation Tigress, to send top atomic scientists like Dr am Penney and Sir John Cockcroft on uted missions to America to make it hough there were problems with the
e most audacious idea was a plan to uke of Edinburgh as a decoy to fool the
Russians into thinking the test was due at least five weeks later than planned.
The Duke was known to have an interest in science and he was engaged in a series of well publicised visits to various factories and laboratories where important nuclear research was being carried out.
John Drew, head of the government's secretive Directorate of Foward Plans unit, famous for the daring wartime deception plan known as Operation Mincemeat which employed a dead body to fool the Nazis into believing the main D Day landings were taking place in Sicily, wrote to Richard Powell, Permanent Under Secretary for the Minister of Defence, wondering whether the Duke could be "harnessed and manipulated " He suggested the Duke might be willing to help by paying a visit to the ships set to transport the test components, HMS Plym and Campania, before they sailed for Australia and, crucially, to announce he was cancelling his engagements for three weeks from November 10, and giving no reason.
He explained, the first element was to establish a link between the Duke and the tests which would set the foundation for the second element, cancelling his engagements and generating speculation that he was attending the trials.
The plan was approved at the highest levels of
government, something unprecedented in peacetime Prime Minister Winston Churchill personally approved it
To avoid any suggestion in Whitehall or the Kremlin that the Duke had been involved in a deception it was suggested that he ‘follow through’ with the three week gap in any case, possibly by taking an unadvertised holiday Drew remained confident that ‘it would go a long way to establish our deception, and beyond providing Prince Philip with three weeks to himself, I cannot see that it would have any repercussions ' It it unclear how far or energetically this aspect of the plan was pursued.
Researchers at Kings College London, who uncovered the documents, were unable to discover any information
Whether the Russians were fooled is also unclear After all atomic spies like Klaus Fuchs and Donald Maclean had already undermined attempts to deceive them over the date of the test
But it seems intelligence chiefs judged that even if the Soviets posessed a significant anoumt of technical information about Britain's bomb, the deception ws worth it if it prevented them from gathering further intelligence from the test.
Sitting next her to beloved husband Prince Philip, the late Queen Elizabeth II smiles radiantly after bestowing the Order of Merit, the most prestigious award in her gift, to a group of the great and good whom she has personally chosen And standing in pole postion directly behind Her Majesty is none other than Lord William Penney, the 'father' of Britain's atomic bomb
The Queen and the Duke were known to have had a great interest in science and were particularly fascinated by the great potential nuclear energy offered They were always keen for information regarding scientific innovations. and the Queen showed her enthusuasm by opening the nuclear power station at Calder Hall Sellafield in 1956
THE times were turbulent and the students were revolting...the 1960s was not an auspicious time for men like Lord William Penney An Establishment figure through and through, he had committed the great “crime” of being the architect of Britain’s nuclear deterrent
From public hero in the 1950s, he had become a figure of hate for CND movement, and many students at Imperial College, London, where he was Rector, were threatening to mirror the French student riots that brought tear gas and mayhem to the streets of Paris
But at that moment of great crisis an unexpected and supremely powerful ally came to his rescue: The Queen. Her majesty agreed to open a new science block at the
college even though student unrest, led by a young firebrand called Peirs Corbyn (brother of future Labour Party Leader Jeremy), was rife.
It was a mark not only of the Queen’s courage, but also her loyalty to a man many considered to be her favourite scientist
No doubt she remembered the moment in October 1952, scarce months after becoming Queen, that Penney presented her with the ‘great prize’, Britain’s atomic bomb, which put the country back at the ‘top table’ of world politics She presented him with a knighthood for that achievement, and later a peerage after he masterminded Britain’s hydrogen bomb project of 1957 58 More honours followed, not least of which was the ultra prestigious
Order of Merit, an honour only in the Queen’s personal gift. The ravages of working with radioactive substances were clearly evident in Penney, an old looking 60 years, but he smiled proudly as he escorted Her Majesty around the new building Grainy, footage of the event, kept in the College archive, show the close rapport he had with the Queen as he accompanied her on her tour
Even the putative revolutionary Corbyn, complete with Trotsky beard and spectacles, was on his best behaviour as he was formally introduced to the Queen
There was little further trouble from students at Imperial College after the Queen left, no doubt to the immense satisfaction and relief of Lord Penney
Royal peacemaker: stands between Lord Penney and firebrand student activist PeirsOf the 21 atmospheric nuclear bomb tests exploded by the UK, one codenamed Grapple Y, is the most contentious. Ever since it was deonated over Christmas Island on April 28, 1958, it has been shrouded in mystery and myth.
It was Britain's biggest bomb Officially it measured 3.2 megatons and, according to the Ministry of defence, was detonated too far away from the island and far too high in the atmosphere to cause significant fallout.
But this has always been disputed by servicemen who crouched in terror as the huge mushroom cloud, shot through with bolts of lightening, rumbled and roared above their heads. Many observers believe mistakes were made and the bomb was exploded lower and nearer to the island than the government has ever admitted And they are convinced it was far bigger, up to three times as big, as the official estimate.
One of those is former Royal Engineer John Simes, who was attached to scientists from the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, the scientists who put the bombs together,when Grapple Y was detonated.
The experienced is etched into his memory, and over the years he has studied closely evidence provided to courts, by pilots and other servicemen
He has now compiled a detailed dossier which he believes could prove that the Goivernment has been lying about Grapple Y and other aspects of the bomb tests
He now wants scientists to examine intricate calculations he has amassed of height, burst, heat and blast based on official figures, to see if they can come to any conclusions. Using charts and maps of the island he has managed to identify exactly his position for both the Grapple Y explosion and the two other bombs, codenamed
Grapple Z, exploded later in the year.
Mr Simes writes that his observation area for Grapple Y and Z was on the road between the Main Camp and the Joint Operations Command (JOC)
For Grapple Y, after 35-40 seconds, the base of the fireball mass was sitting on the top of the palm trees. But for Grapple Z, from the same position and after the same length of time, the fireball was much higher above the palm trees.
He said: "Common sense tells that what I saw does not agree with the official statement (about Grapple Y.) This could be checked if the Ministry of Defence release the official documents."
Mr Simes also disagrees with the official size of Grapple Y given at about 3 megatons He said: Three TV programmes in the 1980s stated that Grapple Y was 8 9 megatons, and an AWRE scientist put it at 7 megatons.
Observations he makes about Grapple Z, also don't accord with official accounts He records he and his small squad went near ground zero 24 years after the blast to recover equipment
He clearly recalls smoke coming from some sacking located at a bunker in the forward site. As he looked a breeze caught the sacking and it "burst into flames" He writes: "Why did the sacking catch fire from a one megaton nuclear weapon (20 miles away)? Was it larger than one megaton?"
Accompanying his dissertation, Mr Simes has included detailed drawings and complex calculations, using official data, to back up his claims.
He is now seeking a reputable scientist to examine his figures to see if his conclusions are correct His searingly honest eyewitness observations deserve careful consideration and Fissionline, with the help of the British Nuclears Tests Veterans' Association, are actively seeking verification
Meanwhile Mr Simes wants answers to another mystery he came across during his stay on Christmas island.
His small group was responsible for movements of stores, equipment and explosives John and his mates were allowed access to most areas of the island including the explosives store, the forward bunkers and the weapons assembly areas.
One day he and his small group were sent to the airfield to collect equipment from an incoming Hastings flight It turned out to be a large, covered wardrobe sized box about 6x4x3 feet. It was guarded by three people, one an army major who stood in the back of the truck holding on to the mysterious box.
The little convoy made its way to a bunker at D site where it was off loaded Soon after a one megaton nuclear bomb, codename Flagpole, was exploded near the site.
Twenty four hours later John and his team were sent back into the area to retrieve the box He recalls: “It was an eerie sight with the ground smouldering and dead seabirds everywhere The major was there when we arrived.”
John helped load the box back onto the truck which took off back to the airfield John didn’t think much about it until recently when he came across an article in the New Scientist about a Major Duncan Janisch who deliberately exposed six army officers to radiation “to have some idea of the amount of contamination picked up by the average survey party” on a nuclear testing range in Australia in 1956.
Said John: “I am sure this was the same major that I met on Christmas Island. We didn’t have any protective clothing and I have often wondered what was in that box. We must have been contaminated but we weren’t checked.”
Mr Simes on Christmas Island 1958
East Hendred 20 Nov 84
Dear Mr Rimmer, I think you are trying to make an honest study of the dreadful problems, However, I am not willing to be interviewed by you, for two reasons First, I have never worked in genetics, medicine or biology and the questions are essentially biological Second, the Australian Royal Commission will almost certainly want to enquire about some of the matters you are concerned with, and they will call witnesses who can speak with authority
I know 3 people who have studied these matters for most of their lives and who are recognised as authorities There are certainly others as well, but these represent the extyremes of opinion You might ask them They are Sir Edward Pochin, Prof J Rotblat and Prof J Fremlin The two important questions to ask are
(1) What facts are known (2) What is your opinion The two matters of concern are (1) Can radiation however small involve risks to any child conceived subsequent to the radiation of other parent Then there is the question "What about the effects of the natural radiation which is everywhere " As quoted in one of yiour articles you sent me, "The questions are very difficult to answer" when the radiation is extremely small You might also enquire what the latest results of the Japanese US joint studies of the genetic effects in Hiroshima and Nagasaki I believe that the answer is that none have been found but these need checking against the latest information Yours sincerely Penney
Lord Penney
By Alan Rimmer
In November 1984, I, as a young reporter, went to the home of Lord William Penney bearing a deeply disturbing dossier of evidence detailing appalling injuries suffered by the children of Britain's nuclear testing programme
I found Lord Penney in his garden burning bundles of papers in a home made brazier. (I have often wondered what secrets were going up in smoke that cold November day) Penney, the 'father of Britain's A Bomb', was startled by my sudden appearance and quickly closed the gate on his home made bonfire
But before he could say anything to me, his wife, Lady Penney, ran out of the house and demanded that I leave. (She actually said "Shoo!"), which I duly did I did manage to hand over my dossier before I left, but as far as I was aware never recceived a reply. I only recently learned that Lord Penney did respond (pictured left) Somehow it had got lost in the thousands of letters I received at the time expressing outrage at the plight of the
veterans and their children, and so was never published. It only recently came to light as I reviewed the huge quantity of material about the bomb tests and the veterans I have amassed in 40 years of investigations. It is, I believe, the first and only time Lord Penney made any comment at all about the nuclear veterans and what they and their children have suffered. This makes it an important document For not only does Penney express remorse about the "dreadful problems" thrown up by the bomb tests, he also acknowledges that my reports were "honest "
He did not attempt to deny or whitewash what had happened, and explains he couldn't give me an interview because he felt he was not qualified because the problems with the children were "essentially biological " I subsequently learned he left provision in his will for the building of an extensive playpark for children in his home village of East Hendred in Oxfordshire Who knows, but perhaps this was his way of saying "sorry" to the thousands of innocent victims of his Cold War bomb making activities
THOUSANDS of troops may have been exposed to deadly radioactive rainfall, known as rainout, following H bomb tests on Christmas Island, according to an official Meteorological Office report Rain ‘possibly caused by the bomb’ fell after three huge H bomb tests in 1957 58, according to the report It makes a mockery of repeated denials by successive governments which insist there was no radioactive contamination on Christmas Island
The 10 page document, released to fissionline under freedom of information laws, also casts serious doubts on statements made by two former defence ministers who in separate statements flatly denied there was any contamination on Christmas Island following the bomb tests.
But the real shock comes with the admission that
Rainout is a particularly pernicious form of radioactive contamination It was first observed after the Hiroshima bomb when ‘black rain’ loaded with particles of ash from burning wood structures fell about 30 minutes after the blast Medics noted that people hit by the rain suffered from burns to their skin and were later more prone to blood cancers. Rainout has the ability to hold its strength and not to be dissipated like dry fallout. Another notorious example occurred over the township of Troy in upstate New York in 1953 Rainout which had travelled across the continent from an Abomb blast caused widespread contamination. It has been blamed for a leukaemia cluster discovered in the area
The Met Office report was written in 1985 in response to an enquiry by an official from the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment.
Entitled Weather and Winds During Christmas Island Nuclear Tests, it states that rainfall occurred at the island’s Main camp after Grapple X on November 8, 1957, and after Grapple Z on Aug 22, 1958.
“precipitation” (rain) reached the surface in a shower possibly caused by Cumulonimbus from bomb..."
At least two former government ministers, in answers to questions, have stated there was no rainout contamination after the bomb tests
Former Labour Defence Minister Dr (now Lord) Lewis Moonie said in a parliamentary reply in
2003: “...there was no rainfall AWE Aldermaston has no evidence to show that water contaminated with radiation was precipitated out over the island ” Defence Minister Archie Hamilton went further He told parliament after a shock Dispatches TV documentary claimed there was heavy rain after the Grapply Y explosion: “The unfounded allegations (about rainfall) are based on a series of factual in accuracies All that I can say is that shortly after the test(s) extensive environmental monitoring did not measure any deposition of radioactive materials from the detonation (s) ” This statement directly contradicts another report, this time from the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, which specifically states there WAS radioactive contamination after H Bomb tests This document entitled: Environmental Monitoring at Christmas Island1957 58 states: A few very high values (of radioactive contamination) were recorded from the southern part of the island, none of which was nearer than 8km from the nearest inhabited area..."
You could have cut the atmosphere with a knife In an English country pub the fearful clientelle were gathered around the radio with a sense of rising foreboding.
Prime Minister Churchill was about to make a speech in Parliament as the main bulk of the British Army of 370,000 men, were cornered at Dunkirk by the fearsome Nazi Panzer divisions which had already overrun most of Europe The date was June 4th 1940 and as the pub goers waited to hear their fate in this Britain's darkest hour, three German's entered the bar and asked for accommodation
The three were scientists working for the British Government and had become stranded after missing their last train back to Birmingham.
The landlord cooly told them that unfortunately there were no beds available.
Unphased one of the Germans turned to a local police constable and asked if they could perhaps be accommodated in a police cell for the night The policeman said it was against the rules and
Just then the radio burst into life and the gravelly voice of Winston Churchill rolled across the airwaves delivering his famous 'we will fight on the beaches ' speech As it ended with the rousing call to the British people 'we will never surrender ' all eyes swivelled toward the little trio of Germans There was a long silence before finally a man stood up and walked over to the Germans To their immense relief, the man told them that he had a spare room in his home that they could have if they wanted, although he added, he would have to check with his wife first Thus the scientists Otto Frisch, Rudolf Peierls and
his wife Eugenia, spent the night in a single bed covered in brown paper (the only bedclothes available) It wasn't very comfortable, but they never forgot
that little act of kindness. Frisch recalled it in his memoir This Much I Know singling it out as an example of the essential difference between the British people and his own countrymen "This would never have happened in Germany," he wrote.
This little paen to British decency is not included in the curriculum of any school, which prefer to concentrate on our colonial past and the slave trade (ignoring, of course, the fact that Britain was the first country to abolish it.)
The decent men and women in that little English pub idolised Winston Churchill and recognised that without him the country would have been doomed.
But a recent survey found that just one in five 18 24 yr olds had a favourable view of Churchill, compared with 54 per cent 20 year ago. ,
Recently Churchill has even been accused of "ignoring" Britain's nuclear veterans by not mentioning their role in the bomb tests (absurdly overlooking the fact that it was too early even to have had nuclear veterans at the time.)
At least Churchill didn't follow the same path as his counterpart in the Soviet Union, Josef Stalin
When the Russian scientists were about to test the country's first atomic bomb, Stalin ordered a gang of NKVD thugs to stand by with orders to shoot them if the test was a failure.
Rudolph and Eugenia Peierls Otto FrischToday as the nation remembers the fallen of countless wars, we respectfully call upon his majesty King Charles III to intercede on behalf of our nuclear veterans.
The fact that his late father was willing to help in Britain's nuclesr testing programme, as our pg1 story shows, offers an opportunity for His Majesty to to use the royal prerogative to step in.
For 70 years arguments have raged over whether this relatively small band of Cold War soldiers were injured by their particpation in British nuclear bomb testing
There is much evidence that many died of cancers or were afflicted by other illnesses through their exposure to radiation.
Tragically, there is also very disturbing evidence that many of their children and grandchildren have also been affected in terrible ways
Government funded scientists and researchers have studied these claims, but have failed to find conclusive evidence to support the claims. This has given successive governments the excuse to do very little to help them
King Charles III could break this deadlock at the stroke of the pen by using his late father's participation in the bomb tests as the key
The Duke's role in the tests was wide ranging. During the Queen and Prince Philip’s tour of the Commonwealth in 1953 1954, Prince Philip suddenly broke away and made an unscheduled visit to the Woomera Rocket Range in South Australia.
The significance of the Woomera Range at the time, was that it included an area, called Emu Field, where controversial neutron tests involving polonium, uranium and beryllium were being performed, without the permission of the Australian government.
One test, codenamed Totem, caused a black mist to spread over a vast area. Prince Philip visited the Woomera Rocket Range shortly after this where he made a point of eating in the Officer’s Mess
Was this another clandestine mission by the 007 Prince, this time to fool the Australians that there was no danger from the nuclear bomb tests?
Then there was the time Prince Philip made a surprise visit to Christmas Island in 1957, during Operation Grapple, on his return from a visit to New Zealand
He stopped briefly in the Queen’s private aeroplane for refuelling and servicing Ron Bostwick, an electrician with the Royal Engineers and a member of the British Nuclear Test Veterans’ Association remembers the Duke’s visit well.
He said that Prince Philip walked down the aeroplane steps and exclaimed to the men who were standing still in their working clothes: “Very good, very nice of you to do that, but haven’t you got anything else to do?!”
The Duke clearly wanted to make sure his visit was known. Was this another deception mission?
In April 1959, following Operation Grapple, the Duke of Edinburgh arrived at Christmas Island for another visit He arrived on the Royal Yacht Britannia, which was
anchored by 19 year old Bryan Taylor from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary
Ostensibly the visit was a morale boosting exercise for the troops stationed there. But by that time Britain had finished its bomb testing programme and the number of troops on the island had been cut drastically.
Was there another reason? At the time the US and the UK were discussing top secret plans for the Americans to take over the island for a planned series of bomb tests known as Operation Dominic This would have broken an international agreement to ban atmospheric nuclear testing and it's possible Prince Philip's presence might have been used to keep the Russians guessing.
Prince Philip clearly had an important part to play at the bomb tests which makes him a nuclear veteran in his own right
It would indeed be a fitting tribute to his late father's memory if King Charles could find a way to honour his father's role at the tests And of course it follows the same honour could be bestowed upon the rest of the nuclear test veterans. In one fell swoop he could bring to a close one of the longest unresolved scandals in British military history
And what an incredible start to this new Carolean age that would be!
*A copy of fissionline is being sent to Buckingham Palace We'll keep you posted
