Fissionline 68

FISSIONLINE

EXCLUSIVE: UK's atomic bomb test medal revealed

All that blood spilled for this

Fissionline: First With the News (as usual).

WE ARE PROUD to announce that this is the tenth anniversary of Fissionline, the only journal dedicated to the cause of nuclear victims everywhere

Fissionline was started in early 2013 to give a voice to the thousands of veterans of nuclear bomb tests who had been cruelly ignored by successive British Governments.

From very small beginnings we have gone from strength to strength and fissionline is now read in 53 countries throughout the world.

Our scoops include the exposure of 'Thatcher's spy', Sir Ernest Cox, who infiltrated the BNTVA, with the intention of destroying it from within

Another bombshell was the revelation that Prince Phillip was used by intelligence chiefs as a "decoy spy" to lure the Russians away from Britain's first atomic bomb test in October 1952

servicemen, widows and children who have suffered so cruelly

fissionline

But there is an even higher calling that goes to the very heart of what the Fissionline project is all about, and that is to rid the world of nuclear weapons once and for all

This call is even more urgent when as you can see on page four, the nuclear arsenals of the great powers are growing exponentially as the world enters probably its most dangerous period in human history

Putin is clearly unstable yet he has his finger on the button of a nuclear stockpile which if unleashed would make life on earth uninhabitable

And we have exposed how doctors and scientists today, in the pay of the Government, have used their positions to cover-up the consequences of the Abomb tests, as well massive failures in the nuclear industry

Governments have been covering-up the devastating impact of radioactive fallout on human beings ever since Hirosohima when General Groves, the Military chief in charge of the Manhattan Project, pronounced that radition poisoning was "a pleasant way to die "

Fissionline has exposed them all, as well as the vaious carpetbaggers that have jumped on the bandwagon hoping to make an equitable life for themselves out of the suffering of the veterans

We hope you have enjoyed Fissionline these past 10 years It has been a labour of love for us, provided at no charge to our thousands of readers

But it is now time to take it to the next step. We plan to provide you with even more fantastic stories from our hugely comprehensive and unique archive amassed over decades of research.

We plan to continue the fight to expose the truth of what happened at the A-bomb tests until justice is at last delivered to the thousands of nuclear

China is a vast unknown quantity that is steadily growing its nuclear arsenal Who knows how its inscrutable leaders will react if they think they are threatened. Then there is Kim in North Korea. He seems capable of dropping a nuclear weapon on whim

Good people, like the Pugwash Conference, a gathering of distinguished scientists, are working to prevent the madness Fissionline is proud to join this great crusade.

We'd like to expand Fissionline and bring out a print edition We'd like serious people to write to us and play their part in extending Fissionline's global reach

But we need your help to do it We need writers to porovide us with fresh insights. We need money, especially for our planned print edition Most of all we need the support of all right thinking people

Could Boris Johnson present the Medal?

Well, here it is, the medal they have all been shouting about; the medal the Government hopes will finally consign Britain's nuclear veterans to the dustbin of history

By Alan Rimmer

It's simple inscription, 'Nuclear Test Medal' conveys nothing about the fire, fury and abject horror of the nuclear bomb explosions witnessed by thousands of UK, Commonwealth and Fijiian servicemen. And, of course, it totally fails to acknowledge the deaths and immense suffering of countless nuclear veterans and their children who were deliberately exposed directly and indirectly to the greatest power in the universe

The ghosts of the men that have gone before, and many who are still alive, will dismiss this medal as

an insult, a shiny bauble designed to mask the dark history of denial and cover-ups carried out by the British Government. Their fight for justice will continue no matter what platitudes are showered upon them, and in that crusade fissionline stands four-square behind them. That said, the simple design of the medal with its atomic nucleus, crossed palms of Kiribati and seven-pointed star symbolising the 7 Australian states, displays an uncharacteristically light touch by the Ministry of Defence..

The total absence of glowing mushroom clouds or flowery words is a respectful companion to the silent, uncomplaining bravery of the men who took part.

Brave men don't need to shout about their exploits.

But later this year there will be a lot of shouting as 50 nuclear veterans (or their children) are paraded for the cameras before having the medals pinned to their breasts. It is not known which dignatory will perform this singular honour Hopes that King Charles may be persuaded to step up are probably fanciful The Princess Royal might seem a surer bet, or even Prince Edward.

But whoever is chosen you can be sure the politicians will want to muscle in on the celebrations. Premier 'Dishy Rishi' Sunak, with a general election looming, will want to grab his share of the limelight as will Opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer who supported the campaign for a medal

But the one person who probably deserves this honour more than anyone is that well-known hate figure Boris Johnson!

After all it was under his administration and following his personal intervention, that the grey suits that award these medals were forced to act

It would be a delicious irony, as well as a triumph for fair play, if Boris stepped forward to grab all the headlines

In that eventuality, one can only imagine the wails of anguish from the Boris-hating Left. You could probably hear them from the moon!

World 'drifting into one of the most dangerous periods in history' according to a leading think tank

The world is “drifting into one of the most dangerous periods in human history” according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute The warning comes as the number of operational nuclear weapons in the arsenals of the major military powers was said to have drastically increased in recent times

There are now said to be an estimated 12,512 warheads globally, of which 9,576 are i military stockpiles ready for potential use, up 86 on a year ago

Worryingly the rise has been mainly caused by a massive rearmanent programme in China which has accounted fo 60 of the new warheads

The other new weapons are attributed to Russia (12), Pakistan (five), North Korea (five) and India (four)

Russia and the US together possess almost 90% of all the nuclear weapons globally In addition to their usable nuclear weapons, the two powers each hold more than 1,000 warheads previously retired from military service, which they are gradually dismantling

Of the total of 12,512 warheads in the world, which includes those that are retired and awaiting dismantlement, it is estimated that 3,844 are deployed with missiles and aircraft. China, the world’s third biggest nuclear power, is believed to have increased its number of warheads from 350 in January 2022 to 410 in January 2023

That arsenal is expected to keep growing although analysts predict they will not surpass the arsenals of the US and Russia

In 2021, commercial satellite imagery revealed that China had started construction of hundreds of new missile silos across the north of its territory

A spokesman for the Stockholm Research Institute said: “China has started a significant expansion of its

nuclear arsenal It is increasingly difficult to square this trend with China’s declared aim of having only the minimum nuclear forces needed to maintain its national security ”

The news comes as Ukraine's nuclear energy agency says it has put the last operating reactor at Europe's largest nuclear power plant into a "cold shutdown" a safety precaution as catastrophic flooding from the collapse of a arby dam eatens the cility's water pply ve out of six actors at the porizhzhia

uclear Power ant, which is cupied by ussian forces, are eady in cold utdown, in which all control rods are inserted into the reactor core to stop the nuclear fission reaction and generation of heat and pressure Energoatom, the Ukrainian nuclear power agency, said in a statement that there was "no direct threat" to the Zaporizhzhia plant due to the breach of the Kakhovka dam further down the Dnipro River, which has forced thousands of people to flee flooding and also sharply reduced water levels in a reservoir used to help cool the facility.

Energoatom said that other factors in the decision included shelling near the site which has damaged overhead lines connecting the plant to Ukraine's energy system.

With all nuclear reactions stopped, temperatures and pressure inside reactors gradually decline, reducing the required intensity of water cooling of the radioactive fuel This is a nuclear power plant's safest operating mode Energoatom employees are still working at the power plant, although it remains controlled by the Russians

From the desk of Ken McGinley President of the British Nuclear Tests Veterans' Association.

Good Luck Ceri

I hope the Mirror and that useless rump of that are supposedly in charge of my organisation, the British Nuclear Tests Veterans' Association, are proud of themselves

I recently had a chat with Ceri Marsh, the former CEO of the BNTVA and although she remains in good spirits, the change in her life since she was hounded out is dramatic.

She has no job, exists on benefits, is 'sofa surfing' on a relative's couch, and finds it impossible to see her own children on a regular basis.

And all because of a campaign based on what she describes as 'lies and innuendos' to oust her from her position. An outcome, faithfully reported by the Daily Mirror, the self-styled "champion" of nuclear veterans

In my opinion Ceri, was a tireless campaigner for the nuclear veterans and can always count on the support of not only myself, but I'm sure people like BBC broadcaster Naga Munchetty who was very impressed by her sincerity and acumen.

Ceri has worked ceaselessly to further our great cause and I wish her well in her forthcoming industrial tribunal against those who have dragged her down

Marbles Intact!

Fissionline editor Alan Rimmer reports that he has received a letter from a former trustee of the BNTVA questioning my sanity because I wrote a letter demanding that all the Trustees step down until the whole sorry mess the association has managed to get itself into in recent months is sorted out.

Referring to the announcement of my illness (I have stage four lung and kidney cancer) this gentleman writes: "As I am sure you know, he is quite seriously ill, and in my opinion not capable of writing the recent documents I have read from him about the BNTVA."

Well, I'm sorry to disappoint this gentleman but although my body is failing, it hasn't affected my brain. I am still quite capable of thought, can still hold a conversation, write a letter, put a bet on and most of all I know right from wrong and have the mental capacity to treat such abhorrent remarks with the disdain they deserve

But just so he knows, below is a recent picture of myself with a tribal wrap, a gift from the people of Kiribati who judge me for what I am, not what they think I should be

The horrifying story of the ship that delivered

In 1968 former US Navy Captain Charles B. McVay III stood at the back porch of his house in Litchfield, Connecticut after a spot of gardening His housekeeper Florence Regosia noticed he looked flushed and had a “glazed look” on his face She put out his lunch and left A few minutes late Captain McVay pulled out a gun and blew his brains out.

It appears the shame of one fateful day at the end of WW2 had finally become too much for McVay who was the commanding officer of the heavy cruiser USS Indianopolis, flagship of the massive Pacific Fifth Fleet,

In late July 1945, he was given one of the most important and secret tasks of the war: to ferry the business end of the atomic bomb to Tinian Island in the Marianas where a B29 plane called Enola Gay was revved up and ready to take off and drop it on Hiroshima

After successfully delivering the precious cargo, breaking maritime speed records in the process, Capt McVay and his 1,196 strong crew were returning to base in Hawaii when his ship sailed across the path of a marauding Japanese U-Boat.

The I-58 sub commanded by Lt Commander Mochitsura Hashimoto was far larger and more heavily armed than

any similar craft owned by the US, or indeed Germany or the UK It could carry six huge torpedoes, each 48 feet long and weighed eight tons These ‘Kaitens’ as they were called had an underwater speed of 30 knots and carried 3,200 pounds of explosives in the warhead

The unique thing about a Kaiten, however, was not its size, speed or explosive power. What made them special was that each was piloted by a man, the underwater equivalent of the suicidal kamikaze.

Upon spotting a target, the pilot climbed through a hatch into the torpedo, the straps holding it to the sub’s decks were released, and he steered it toward the target There was very little chance that he would miss, and of course it was strictly a one-way mission.

Even though US Naval intelligence knew their were enemy U-boats in the area, McVay had been given no warning.

Lulled into a false sense of security, he had ordered his ship to sail in a straight line without taking the usual evasive precautions such as zig-zagging.

The Indianapolis was a sitting duck and hashimoto took full advantage Two torpedoes slammed into the

Survivors shortly after rescue

Capt Charles McVay III

the USS Indianapolis, d the Hiroshima bomb

Indianopolis amidships and such was their devastating power that the crew had time only to send a hasty Mayday signal before the huge vessel turned turtle and began to sink.

Nearly 400 went down with the ship while the rest were cast into the shark-infested waters of the Philippine Sea McVay was the last to leave the ship, calmly walking off the underbelly as it nosedived into the inky depths

Because of a series of mistakes and incompetent communications, the sinking went unnoticed by the US Navy and for four agonising days the 800 survivors were at the mercy of the storm-tossed waves, the blistering sun...and of course the sharks that turned up in huge shoals to feast upon the luckless seamen

Their plight was featured by Capt Quint, a fictional survivor, in the film Jaws. Quint, played by Robert Shaw gave a doom-laden, albeit true account of how the sailors formed large circles in the water in a bid to ward off the ferocious beasts.

But up to 150 men were reportedly taken by sharks The survivors were finally rescued when an alert US pilot on routine patrol spotted ‘bobbing heads” in the middle of the ocean

Only 316 who went into the water survived

The disaster was quickly covered up by the US military when it was realised that no-one had bothered to report the glaring fact that one of their most prestigious vessels had been missing for four days without anyone, apparently, noticing

The cover-up continued when announcement of the tragedy was made on the same day as President Truman told the American people that the war was over Capt McVay, although he did no wrong, was ultimately made the scapegoat and was court marshalled. And although he was later exonerated, he never got over the shame Hi biggest regret, as he told friends, was not going down with his ship.

Up to 150 eaten by sharks

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