Campaign Magazine - Summer 2014

IN REMEMBRANCE OF THOSE WHO DID NOT MAKE IT THIS FAR AND IN SUPPORT OF THOSE WHO HAVE

CAMPAIGN The Journal of the BNTVA Registered Charity Number 1131134 TM

Yes Prime Minister Historic recognition by David Cameron

2014 Conference Report inside

Summer 2014

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AGM and Conference 2014

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The Chaplain writes

Remembrance I have often referred in my articles to ‘Remembrance’, because I firmly believe that to remember, whether solemnly at the National Memorial, or in the privacy of our own hearts and homes, is to pay tribute.

For reasons which are particularly poignant, remembering is very important to members of our association, and to all ex-service people.

Just how important was emphasised on 10th September. I went to a tiny village, north east of Paris, called Priez, with representatives of the Royal Sussex Regimental Association (the Regiment no longer exists.) One hundred years ago to the day, a battle was fought outside the village, during which twenty-two men of the 2nd Battalion were killed, including the RSM. They are buried in the local cemetery. A wonderful new Memorial has been created, of Portland stone and slate, and I was there to dedicate it. There were nearly two hundred of us – veterans of the Regiment, descendants of each of the dead soldiers, and local villagers.

Apart from the ceremony itself, and the laying of wreaths at the cemetery, the most moving moment came in a speech by the Mayor of Priez (population 50 persons) – an office he has held for 55 years! Wearing his Tricolour sash, he spoke about sacrifice, service and the debt owed by the people of France and Belgium to the young men who fought there in 1914 as part of the Battle of the Marne.

The Mayor’s simple words, which were very well translated for us by a young lady, helped us all to identify with the events we were commemorating, and to realise the immensity of the sacrifice that was made by so many. The very smallness of the village and the cemetery, and the single line of graves, were somehow more affecting than the great ceremonies of Remembrance that we have become used to as a Nation. It was a great privilege to be there.

We sang as lustily as we could the hymn O God our help in ages past. When we got to the line ‘They fly forgotten,’ I thought ‘Not in Priez they aren’t… and quite right too.’

With my prayers and good wishes to all veterans and their families.

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The BNTVA Annual General Meeting & Conference Report 2014 The 2014 Conference was held at the Britannia Country House Hotel in Didsbury on 23rd-25th May. We would like to thank all who attended and apologise for the delay whilst seating provision was increased to cope with the great turnout of day delegates on the 24th.

Residential guests arrived on Friday 23rd and following the evening meal a special preview of ‘Nobody Told Us Anything’ a documentary by Charles Stewart was screened.

1. Chairpersons Opening Remarks Following registration (a process we will improve next year by registering residents on the day prior) the Chairperson welcomed all to Conference reminding the assembly that although the rules of debate applied he would ease them as far as possible to ensure everyone had the opportunity to contribute.

them. I conducted a short Service of Remembrance and Dedication in Portsmouth Cathedral in October.

Most of this took place in an indoor passageway as the main Cathedral was in use for an Education Day and full of children, and the rain was so tempestuous that we took refuge indoors! But prayers were said, wreaths laid and a good social gathering to dry out in The Duke of Buckingham was held afterwards. Such social events are an important feature of all our activities, sacred and secular, and always enjoyable. Ann Lee, who many members got to know as my faithful PA/Secretary in Chichester, was able to come, and put faces to names.

2. Chaplains Report & Service of Remembrance This is a brief report, since much of my professional contact with members of our Association is of a pastoral nature, and therefore private. I have been contacted by members on a variety of issues, both practical and spiritual, and am always pleased to hear from

I was able to take part in the Westminster march, and very impressed with the turnout and the dignity of members in relation to the media. The Chairman’s speech, and that of John Baron MP, expressed the intentions of the association very clearly, I thought; not for the first time, I could have wished for greater

BNTVA Annual General Meeting

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media coverage after the event….

As reported in the Spring edition of Campaign, this has been a special year for me: retirement from the Deanery of Chichester, and the humbling award of the Freedom of the City, together with my appointment as a Canon of Honour of Chartres Cathedral in France – a complete surprise, announced on 2nd February. Thanks to members who came to my farewell service (especially the Pompey Pew!) and for cards and good wishes.

Just for clarification, I have not (yet!) been asked to retire from the Chaplaincy of the BNTVA and will continue to serve for as long as I can be of use. Meanwhile, as always, all our members, widows and their families remain in my constant prayers.

Nicholas Our Chaplain’s message was followed by the Service of Remembrance where we honoured those members who had passed since our last gathering.

3. Message from our Patron - John Baron MP As you will be aware, the treatment of our nuclear veterans and the work of the British Nuclear Test Veterans’ Association were first brought to my attention by a constituent. Since then, I have become increasingly involved with the BNTVA and its campaign, and was honoured to be invited to serve as the group’s Patron.

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There are periodic calls to join in with various legal actions against the MOD. I believe the BNTVA has been wise to resist the temptation to go down this route. Not only is the expense high and the likelihood of success low, but the Parliamentary campaign has already led to palpable improvements – the Health Needs Audit is a case in point, which has led to the creation of a ‘veterans’ pathway’ through the NHS in addition to other practical measures. I also believe our current recognition campaign is well placed to achieve its aims.

Looking back over the last year, we had a very successful Parliamentary campaign launch on 11th June, with many veterans, descendants and MPs in attendance. The accompanying art exhibition was admired by all, and certainly was much discussed both in Parliament and on its journey across the country.

In October the BNTVA delivered a 5,000-signature petition to No 10. On the same day 150 veterans, family members and MPs marched on Parliament.

The event was covered extensively in the media, with both national and international journalists in attendance.

This was an excellent day for the campaign, and showed the strength of the organisation as well as our resolve to see the campaign through.

After raising the issue at PMQs I had a positive meeting with the Prime Minister just before Easter, during which we discussed the recognition

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campaign and the establishment of the £25m Benevolent Fund. I also presented him with a copy of the film. He has undertaken to ask questions within government, and I expect him to get back to me shortly.

Finally, we were all saddened to learn of Jeff’s unfortunate turn after the launch. However, I am glad that he is now feeling stronger. Jeff has been a fine and tireless campaigner for the nuclear veterans, and we should all pay tribute and thank him and Nige for their work as vice-Chairman and Chairman.

We all owe them a debt of gratitude.

With best wishes for a successful conference.

4. Organisational Managers Report – Jeff Liddiatt & Bob Ireland The Organisational Managers report was presented in two parts. Jeff Liddiatt advised that he attended the launch of the Recognition Campaign but due to ill health in June 2013 he had reluctantly been forced to take a step back, he went on to say: “In November I took part in the march on Parliament lead by John Baron MP our Patron who was joined by a number of supporting MPs,about 125 members, wives and supporters of the BNTVA took part. The day ended with the presentation of the petition to Number 10. I would like to thank everyone who sent me cards and messages of support during my illness.”

The Chair covered the OM duties from June 2013 until Robert Ireland was able to take the reins in February this year.

Then ‘Bob’ as he answers to, introduced himself to the meeting, telling of his history and association with the BNTVA. Bob reported his first task was to organise this conference and hoped all went well.

5. Financial Report – Ian Greenhalgh In delivering the financial report Ian stressed the figures represented the period 1st April 2012 to 31st March 2013, in the past some members had believed the accounts were for the current year of activity.

Ian advised that the costs of running the charity continued to be driven down but huge increases in postal charges and the loss of a free conference venue in recent years were the main factors depleting operating reserves. To allow funds for progressing the campaign we were taking measures such as conducting more telephone conferences which save a significant expense cost.

Despite this the cost of being a member of the Association had not increased since long before we became a charity.

Ian urged delegates not only to consider increasing the membership fees in the debate to be held during the afternoon but also to realise that if every member recruited just one extra member each we would double out available income overnight.

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Statement of Financial Activities For the year ended 31 March 2013 2012 ÂŁ

2013 ÂŁ

3,657

2,542

14,045 354 2,512 981

11,540 552 2,077 5,930

Total incoming resources

21,549

22,641

Resources Expended Cost of generating funds Goods for resale

(2,396)

(3,253)

Net incoming resources available for charitable application

19,153

19,388

Charitable expenditure Direct charitable expenditure Memorial costs Office and administration costs Governance costs

10,253 18,407 2,982 31,642

14,425 18,679 5,410 38,514

TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED

34,038

41,767

Net incoming/(outgoing) resources before other recognised gains Gains/(loss) on revaluation of investments

(11,489) (310)

(19,126) (475)

Net movement in funds

(11,799)

(19,601)

17,682

37,283

5,883

17,682

Voluntary Income Donations & legacies Activities for generating funds Memberships Interest received Sale of goods Other

Balance brought forward Balances at 31 March 2013

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Balance Sheet 2013 £

2012 £

734

1,284

734

1,284

Current Assets Stock Investment Cash at bank and in hand

1,000 4,388 1,518

1,650 11,282 4,216

Total Current Assets

6,906

17,418

(1,757)

(750)

NET CURRENT ASSETS/(LIABILITIES)

4,149

16,398

Total Net Assets

5,883

17,682

Office and administration costs

2013 £

2012 £

Printing and stationary Postage Telephones Website Depreciation Bank charges Travel and accommodation Other

6,548 2,430 1,632 35 550 76 5,936 1,200

9,978 4,466 1,568 596 688 68 1,315

18,407

18,679

Governance costs

2013 £

2012 £

Legal and accountancy Administration costs

1,191 1,791

1,500 3,910

Total Office and Administration Costs

2,982

5,410

Fixed Assets Tangible assets TOTAL FIXED ASSETS

Liabilities Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year

Total Office and Administration Costs

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6. Membership Report – Lisa Bainbridge Lisa was unable to attend Conference this year and submitted her report through Ian Hall. It has been a difficult year managing the membership records. I have done a lot of work bringing the records up to date and correcting many errors on the database.

Our overall membership level remains the same as we are recruiting slightly more members than those that sadly pass on. In a predominantly ex-service organisation this is something of a rarity as the usual trend is toward reduction. It was noted that every time our campaign hits the media we do see an influx of new or returning members.

The biggest challenge this year has been tracking the membership renewals for 2014-15 due to problems with the company running our central mailbox. Ian Hall reported that he had noticed we had received no mail from the post box for the four week period when the majority of membership payments usually arrive. Investigation

by Ian revealed that there had been an error in the accounts department of the post box supplier and that all our mail had been returned to the Post Office marked “gone away”. This could not have happened at a worse time. Once the company realised their error they wrote to everyone who renewed by post the previous year and we have been given 12 months free service from them.

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Footnote: Strangely Ian received a huge bundle of ‘Missing’ post in June. This has all now been processed so if your membership cheque has not been drawn yet please cancel it and submit a new one.

7. Editors Report -Steve Bexon Good Morning all, Can I first apologise for not being at the AGM in person. I have to work today on a photo-shoot that I contracted to quite a while ago. I wish I was with you in person as I have not missed an AGM since becoming a Trustee.

In my last editors report I mentioned that we had run an initiative to get as many members to start taking the magazine as an electronic emailed version instead of the printed copy, in an effort to cut the costs of producing the magazine and sending it out. We had a good initial response and got to around 60 people taking the magazine the way but this has now stopped an nobody is taking this option. It is a little disappointing but It also points to the success of the magazine and how popular it is. I will look again at trying to encourage the electronic option again in the next magazine.

Over the last few months I’ve had a few members have contacted me asking why their submissions to the magazine haven’t appeared so I’ll try and explain.

There have been 2 issues since June, the autumn 2013 and the latest spring 2014. The autumn one was almost

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entirely devoted to the recognition campaign which is possibly one of the biggest pushes for recognition the organisation has been involved in. The whole issue was 40 pages, the biggest issue I’ve worked on as the editor / designer. It featured just 1 article from a member at 1 and a half pages, the remainder was the AGM report. I had to add in this edition a note from me asking for patience as I was aware I had stories to go into the magazine that couldn’t go in that issue or possibly the next. A 40 page issue is more expensive to post out and obviously to print, so to balance this the next issue was capped at 28 pages. In the following Spring issue there is a story from Shelly Grigg about the fallout descendants group.

We have been encouraging members to set up groups with support from us by providing logos and email addresses, and we are trying to engage with the regional groups / branches, so this was a good example to publish. There were only a couple more pages of member articles as well as the AGM hotel booking form.

The priority has to go to the organisation to communicate with the members as we have been extremely busy and you need to know what the organisation is doing on your behalf. Whatever space is left is then dedicated to articles from the membership. Articles from the membership does fluctuate, sometimes I have an abundance of stories and other times I have very little but they always seem to balance out.

The last 2 issues have totalled 68 pages and have featured under 6 pages of members articles. The organisation has had a lot to tell the members hence the limited space available, and the magazine is the only source of information to some members who don’t have internet access, so we have to publish what happens on days like today so everybody knows what we do.

I will look to make sure I pick up on all the outstanding member submissions and get them into the forthcoming magazine. I hope you have a great day at the AGM and conference and wish I could be there with you.

8. Merchandising Report – Ian Hall Ian advised that the online shop continued to produce a steady flow of orders. If members have any problems or questions about merchandise could they please contact him either on the BNTVA telephone service or by email at i.hall@bntva.com 9. Local Fundraising and Education – Doug Hern Doug reported on the work he was doing locally to raise awareness of the Tests and the BNTVA. He spoke about the efforts he had made to gain grant funding to facilitate this. Once this is all complete he will produce an information pack to help others replicate the work in their regions. Doug and Sandie have also made a number of collections during their awareness raising events raising much needed funding for our national projects.

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Doug also advised he was working on a number of songs for a possible CD and asked that if any other musicians in the Association wished to contribute material they could contact either him or Nigel. Footnote: Other members play a great part in raising awareness of the BNTVA, Bob and Jean Fleming take a stall to many events in the Anglia Region. We are looking to produce a ‘shop in a box’ that can be used by members to create a small stall for their local events.

10. Fallout Group – Shelly Grigg Shelly told the conference about setting up the Fallout Group to provide a place where descendents of veterans could meet, exchange experiences and support each other.

The previous Chairman had championed the involvement of descendents as long ago as 2008 when he set up the Children’s Committee which became the G2+ group, so it was a natural progression for the BNTVA to suppor the work of the Fallout Group.

She advised how she had engaged children and grandchildren of veterans in the campaign for recognition and that since the media coverage of our ‘March on Parliament’ the group had grown beyond her expectation.

The inaugural Fallout Group meeting would be held following the BNTVA afternoon session and all interested parties were welcomed. Footnote: The Fallout Group is a great way to

encourage and involve your children and grandchildren show them the article on the group in this edition, the group now has a website at www.fallout.uk.net 11. Trustee Appointments There were no Trustee appointments to set before the meeting for confirmation this year and the Chairperson advised that we were looking to take on one or two female Trustees to give a better balance on the board. If anyone is interested please contact the Chairperson for an application package.

12. Motions No motions had been received for the AGM and that Chairperson advised he would host an open forum session at the end of the day which would enable the Trustees to take away any ideas and observations to discuss and work upon during the coming year.

13. AOB Don James advised the meeting that Pam Taylor wife of the late Ken Taylor had passed away last November. The Chairperson recorded the appreciation of the BNTVA for all the great work these two stalwarts of the Association had performed and he extended condolences to the family. The meeting concluded and members broke for lunch.

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BNTVA Conference 1. Chairpersons Main Address - Recognition Campaign Strategies & Research In 2010 the BNTVA launched “going forward together” a three year plan to ensure the survival of the Association.

The plan covered changes to Governance, Structure and Direction within the Association. We had to emerge from the haphazard mixture of trade union, church club and old boys network of practices the organisation had cobbled together.

We needed to create a strong durable organisation, promoting a credible image to its members and an appealing one to potential members.

We desperately needed to develop a reputation for rational credibility amongst the organisations we work with. In short - We needed to create a future. “going forward together” at the outset was a three year plan to achieve these goals. Between 2010 and 2013 we rapidly evolved and, as I had promised conference when they voted the changes in, by 2013 we attained a position where our numbers were increasing and we were able to move to the next phase of activity. We launched the Recognition Campaign.

This was not just some idea dreamed up over night, the campaign was a long time in the planning, many considerations had to be made and

much advice was sought. Primarily the campaign had to satisfy a basic set of conditions, it had to be:

Realistic, Achievable, Sustainable above all it had to Mean Something In working with the MOD contractor’s to develop the 2010 Health Needs Analysis we revealed the needs of our Veterans and obtained a glimpse at the scale of the problems encountered by their descendents. This begged the question; What could the BNTVA do to address this?

Achievable: This is the key

There is absolutely no use commencing a campaign without any reasonable possibility of success. We recognised that calls for compensation implied blame and fault whilst recognition is the acceptance and acknowledgement of struggle.

Accusations of blame and fault are naturally resisted, Politicians and are no different to any other person and will rile against accusations and blame especially for something they personally did not cause.

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The same is not true for Recognition, this is acceptable to the individual as it levies no fault against them, in effect in recognising and acknowledging the struggle of our members they join and display unity. This makes acceptance of recognition an achievable reality as opposed to the acceptance of blame and fault.

Realistic:

The minima of the world stage payouts to nuclear veterans does not really add up to much per veteran.

Back in the early days of litigation (pre Rosenblatt) my father had the idea of a fund gathering all the monies together to dispense to those in need. He saw the avarice that gripped some - A new car a Kitchen or a Holiday; As one a former Chairman of the Association announced “it’s a bar in Spain for me and I’m off...” My father believed there was a better way.

Clearly, short-sighted gain does not realistically address the problems our veterans and their families face both now and tomorrow. Compensatory claims only relate to the people who have suffered direct loss, this being the veterans and some of their widows.

Once their children reach adulthood they are no longer dependent. Many veterans who have passed have left behind children and grandchildren, the genetic heritage runs in their bodies too.

It would be wholly unrealistic and utterly contemptible for any one, especially us as an association, to turn their backs on these people.

By pooling the funds, Investing and dispensing wisely, Attracting future investment, We can provide for the real needs of Veterans, Spouses, Children, Grand-children and Greatgrandchildren for generations to come.

That makes our efforts Sustainable

Mean Something: The recognition

of the difficult and stressful service our veterans endured along with the years of suffering and angst experienced by them and their families must be recognised both Nationally by issue of a medal or award and Parliamentary by a statement from the Prime Minister.

• The provision of funds to alleviate suffering • The provision of funds to research health and wellbeing problems • The provision of funds to take the lessons and experience of our veterans to new generations and new cultures with projects like the International archive These are all activities that will ‘Mean Something’.

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When should we launch the Recognition Campaign?

How should we to take the campaign forward?

When we first began planning the campaign many veterans were involved in the litigation. Indeed around 10% of our veteran members were litigants and this even included some Trustees.

In planning we had to decide the best most cost and time effective way to achieve our campaign goals.

We had to ask the question: Does our recognition Campaign affect the litigation?

The answer from our legal advisers was No. The litigation was a question of employer liability which had drifted into a legal argument surrounding the timeliness of bringing such action.

Despite this we waited.

We supported the litigation by loaning the BNTVA archive; The largest single resource used by the solicitors.

Because the litigation was a class action brought by individuals not by organisations or groups, the BNTVA, as a fully recognised legal entity, was not part of the litigation. And still we waited.

We waited until it was clear this case was lost. Then and only then we launched our campaign. In fact, despite the ridiculous allegations by a minority of individuals that our Campaign undermined the litigation, the contrary was actually the case in that the protracted litigation prevented the launching of our campaign.

Litigation:

Given the latest failure, litigation was obviously a waste of money and time.

Anyone who has spent time in the court room will tell you there is no such thing as absolute truth. Justice is blind and if you can argue black is white then black becomes white. At the end of the day ‘justice’ goes to the side able to buy the best representation.

I’m sure we all know people who have endured costly divorce proceedings.

Science:

Some people set great store by scientific proof. Just as in litigation no proof is absolute. As soon as a theory is proved along comes another scientist and disproves it or worse still as in the case of the Rowland’s report those in power simply say “OK AND?”. Rowland’s is a very interesting piece of work and it opens the door to years and years of further study to fully examine the phenomenon.

Unfortunately our members do not have years to wait and suffer, they need help now. Rowland’s work simply does not prove that the observed phenomenon result in the causation of any illness or physical condition.

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We considered replicating Rowland’s in the UK. We declined for number of reasons: The study results had already been accepted by our Government and more importantly; it would have been used to delay any resolution of our campaign by a number of years only to achieve a net result of no advancement whatsoever. There is a rumour that we were offered replication of Rowland’s work by the MOD, this is just not true no offer was made because the Government had already accepted the findings.

The science to prove exposure has occurred and that it has damaged health In the recipient or their offspring just does not exist in any form that is robust enough to prove our case. We had all this information independently verified by Brunell University which led us back to the basic question “do we really need ultimate proof this is the case?”

As an aside there has been some talk of raising monies to replicate Rowland’s research in the UK. We looked fully into this some time ago and have also recently revisited the costings.

It will cost almost £500,000! and is likely to be unachievable because of the lack of suitable study subjects: Anyone who has received a number of X-rays, at least one cat scan or undergone any medical procedure using radioactive isotopes is ruled out due to the levels of radiation to which

they have been exposed. Some people recently claimed Rowland’s could be replicated for £100,000.

Given our investigations and the extensive detailed costings we received we find this highly suspicious. At the end of the day we know what the result will be and we know what use the result is: It does not advance our campaign one inch so, unless we are in the business of wasting members time and money just to line the pockets of some scientist, this is clearly not an option open to the sane.

At the end of the day we need to look at the whole problem of gaining recognition and receiving a significant contribution from the Government to the Benevolent Fund. To achieve this we started to look at the problem from the other side:-

What motivates the people in control of the purse strings?

Through Cratus Communications we met with a highly influential Public Relations guru, in fact one of the top three people in the UK and we learned the following basic lesson: • Politicians are driven by public opinion • Public opinion = votes • Influence Public Opinion and you influence the MPs • Public Relations changes Public Opinion

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Think of some high profile cases: Gurkhas, Artic Convoys, The Bomber Boys.

Did they need Science? - No Did they need Litigation? - No They all used Public Relations (PR) Put Joanna Lumley on TV saying “this is a disgrace and should be sorted out” and within a few months the world changes, no lengthy court cases, no yearsof scientific study.

Finance is also a key issue: You can run an effective PR campaign for a few thousand pounds, certainly nowhere the astronomic cost of litigation or scientific research. After all this deliberation we launched the Recognition Campaign as Public Relations operation.

The first 12 months What have we achieved?

We have taken part in the review of Medals and Awards. This is ongoing, with the final report being delayed yet again however, we are kept fully appraised of progress by the reviewers.

Our patron John Baron, working with Cratus Communications, developed a network of supporting Members of Parliament. In June 2013 the ‘Shadow of the Bomb’ art exhibition was premièred in Westminster, this coincided with the official launch of the Recognition Campaign.

The event saw over 80 MPs sign up to support the BNTVA campaign. Pressure began to mount on the Government with our MPs raising the issue at every opportunity.

John Baron obtained a Westminster hall debate where the MOD badly briefed the Veterans Minister leaving the door open for us to push further.

Every opportunity Increases the media interest in our campaign and raises public awareness.

At the same time we sent a pack to every council urging them to pass motions supporting our veterans locally under the military covenant and calling on the Prime Minister to support our Recognition Campaign.

This aspect of the campaign continues to build momentum and Conference will hear of progress and support from the Nuclear Free Local Authorities representatives later.

Being invited to take the art exhibition to the Isle of Man paid dividends in PR and built useful bridges with their government and it was good to support Gary Bennett in his home town, this artist has done so much for us the last year. The IOM Government actually stated that the exhibition and experiences of our veterans proved beyond all doubt that their actions in recognising and awarding their veterans were wholly justified.

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The next phase was the petition.

I must say a big thank you to our members and supporters who pulled out all the stops and delivered an amazing result of over 5000 signatures in such a short time.

We knew the petition would not make any difference to Government, it was all about creating Media Interest. The story was picked up by the Sunday Mirror and the Sunday Telegraph to name a few. We had TV and radio coverage in the UK, Cyprus, Japan and the United States.

The engagement of the media on this scale has been mostly down to the hard work and tenacity of Katie Hill who now manages all our media activity.

This first 12 months of the Recognition Campaign has achieved more progress than all the past 30 years of confrontation. The Public Relations activity has put our campaign squarely on the table of Number 10. David Cameron is now looking. It is our job to keep that pressure on.

Where do we go next?

Having all watched ‘Nobody Told Us Anything’ the night before we knew the hardest hitting truths we can bring to our campaign are the stories of the veterans their widows and most importantly the children. In a measured sensitive way we must put their experiences to the fore.

We launched the Descendents Health Survey because we need the evidence of the health problems encountered by our veterans offspring. This does not need to be a scientific study with control groups and the inevitable wrangling on the validity of the results. It simply needs to be enough for the PR twist to create reasonable doubt in the public mind. What other group of people could you find who almost half have descendent’s with serious or congenital conditions.

Building on the initiative of former Chairman John Lowe, we sought to engage the descendents more actively in the campaign. The old Children’s Committee and the G2+ groups had stalled. One of our members, Shelly Grigg, had begun a group on the social network site FaceBook. We put our resource and support behind Shelly and the Fallout Group which has resulted in an unbelievable increase in membership and awareness amongst Nuclear Test Veterans descendents.

The documentary film ‘Nobody Told Us Anything’ will have a Westminster première on 25th June 2014. This will re-engage our MPs and using the experiences of our members and those of the Fallout Group will create a further media opportunity.

The National release of the film across 15 to 20 cinemas in the form of meet the veterans, see the art work and watch the film evenings

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will spread this opportunity across local media. This will enable us to push the council’s campaign and get more areas passing motions of support. We should also be able to get more individuals writing to both the Prime Minister and their own MPs to support our Recognition campaign.

The additional costs for this section of the campaign need to be raised and we have a number of initiatives under progression, some of which also raise the profile of the campaign and the plight of our members.

Everything we do is geared towards delivering the campaign by maximising exposure and increasing pressure. The documentary will go on to wider release at home and abroad in 2015. We are looking for further distribution on DVD and digital download with the possibility of producing a package with handouts and posters for members who want to guest speak and show the film to small groups.

The recorded interviews are all lodged with the Imperial War Museum to form a resource for future generations and will also be placed in the new International Nuclear Testing Archive.

We are working with AVEN the French veterans organisation, to create a multinational, multi-access, multilingual archive of everything relating

to nuclear testing to take our joint stories across the world.

We will look to ensure the councils who vote to support our campaign also support our veterans and will raise awareness of specific problems in their areas.

When the Descendents Health Needs Analysis is complete the results will be shared with our French colleagues through the OBSIVEN organisation to help increase worldwide understanding.

Jean-Luc, the AVEN President has proposed the formation of an international organisation of bodies representing all peoples affected by nuclear testing to work with the United Nations for the betterment of our world. We fully support this and are working to expand our contacts with affected indigenous groups with the Nuclear Futures Programme.

We have created this Pathway to the future and taken the first teetering steps, lets now go forward together, keep the pressure on and raise the funds to make it real.

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3. Media & Political Relations – Katie Hill Katie told conference of her association with the BNTVA through Jeff Liddiatt and her father, she was the reason for Cratus Communications becoming involved in our campaign. Katie now works freelance supporting the media relations and communications of the BNTVA as well as collating media from the Fallout Group. Being based in the capital with all the networking opportunities it offers she has become a key player in our campaign team.

Katie described the behind the scenes work on the local government campaign and the key events of 2013; Lobbying at the Party conferences, Supporting the Shadow of the Bomb art exhibition events in London and on the Isle of Man, culminating in the organisation of media exposure during the March on Westminster.

She told conference that although much had been achieved in the past year there was still a long way to go to fully deliver the campaign and that she looked forward to playing an active part in securing both recognition and the establishment of the Benevolent fund.

4. Nuclear Futures Initiative – Paul Brown & Maxine Goodwin www.nuclearfutures. org Paul and Maxine joined us from Australia and talked about the international initiative using art to tell the story of what they term ‘Nuclear Survivor Communities’. Essentially these are any community of people who’s lives have been changed by the effects of nuclear testing. Nuclear Futures is a three-year arts and cultural program – a collaboration between atomic survivor communities and arts workers who wish to address global concerns about nuclear weapons testing, support campaigns for peace and disarmament, and assert the resilience of survivor communities.

It will also explore a challenging question: “What creative art works and processes can endure across the deeptime of the nuclear future?”

As projects are confirmed and developed, this site will feature news, creative outputs and analysis from communities, artists and researchers.

We will record and curate stories in collaboration with communities affected by Cold War atomic tests, and link with development programs in those communities, to ensure arts

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projects serve local priorities. We are interested in the development of local knowledge about people, places and country, and hope to juxtapose this with the history of scientific experimentation and with new science about radiation impacts.

We want to explore the long-term consequences of bomb testing, and, in response, to develop new multi-platform creative works for presentation in community spaces, on websites, in exhibitions, in atomic memorial sculpture gardens, in theatres and in museums, in Australia, Japan, Britain and elsewhere.

The program is supported by partnerships between communities, arts organisations, individual creative artists, government agencies and academic institutions, and it uses international collaborations across Australia, Japan, UK, Marshall Islands, Kazakhstan and India.Maxine also told of her life as the daughter of a Veteran and the current situation with Nuclear Vetrerans representation in Australia.

Footnote: Fallout Australia has also been formed, you can find more by emailing mottrammark@hotmail.com or maxine.goodwin@bigpond.com There is also a further article on this in the magazine.

5. Funding, Printing and Membership Fees – Ian Hall Following from the information given to conference by Ian Greenhalgh during the Financial Report Ian Hall advised those present that the BNTVA could not continue to operate without some form of increase in membership fees.

Details of the impact of postal costs were given illustrating the crippling effect on the operating finances of the organisation.

Publication of the magazine was discussed at length. In printing terms we have the most economic deal as reverting to either newspaper style or even adopting black and white format would actually cost more due the rarity of these types of printing technology now. Members expressed appreciation of the current format and wished did not want to see it changed.

The issue of taking the magazine on-line was discussed as was the possibility of different levels of membership fees for those that took this option. The overall feeling was that we encourage as many people to take the magazine on-line but because it is the key link many of our members have with the Association printed copies should always be available. A suggestion that we calculate the cost of

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an individual magazine and publish this as the price on the cover so members were aware and may be encouraged to gift additional donations. This was accepted and will appear on future editions. The suggestion from Ian Greenhalgh that we all try to recruit more members was well received and it was noted that the current Recognition Campaign was increasing awareness amongst the descendents of veterans, many of whom are now joining us. After much debate it was decided that an increase to £20 per annum would redress the rises in costs since the formation of the charity. This raise will come into effect in 2015.

6. Assn des Vétérans des Essais Nucléaires (AVEN) - President Jean-Luc Sans Good Day to you all, I am delighted to be with you again today and thank you sincerely for your invitation and hospitality.

We have followed with interest the remarks of Mr Cameron concerning the health problems of the British veterans’ descendants and his recognition of them amply merits an honorary distinction.

The French state too has undertaken mortality and morbidity studies of the veterans and the conclusion that have been published have encouraged us to develop a new fitness plan based on the techniques of ‘plutoniumtherapy.’ In fact the mortality report explains that the veterans live much longer. And in addition – according to the data on morbidity – they live in better health than the French population as a whole! This gave us the idea of developing plutoniumtherapy centres to treat cancer with plutonium baths, and with inhalation of caesium or cobalt for our other diseases…

More seriously, AVEN engaged more than 30 times during 2013 with members of Parliament and the Ministry of Defence. We obtained the setting up of commissions of enquiry in both the Chambre des Députés and the Senate which gave rise to 5 points to be modified in the law: 1. The inclusion of a doctor, name to be proposed by the associations on the Compensation and Damages Committee.

2. The strengthening of the right to present a case and the principle of open discussion through the presence of the victim, or a representative nominated by the victim, from the time the detailed request for compensation is first examined.

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3. The obligation of the Compensation and Damages Committee to publish an annual activity report.

4. The follow-up Commission to be attached to the general services of the government under the direction of the Prime Minister’s Office and no longer to the Ministry of Defence.

5. The zone of fallout to be extended to include the whole of French Polynesia.

Alongside that, we have made good progress on our epidemiological research, obtaining the necessary scientific recognition to continue our work, and in January we launched the health centre project.

Our health centre project is intended not only for the veterans but for everybody who works or has worked in the nuclear sector and their descendants, as well as those living in centres of population close to a possible source of radiation, and who wish to have information on radiationinduced illnesses - as well as health professionals seeking information on nuclear medicine. Our wish is that the collective experience obtained through nuclear testing and its devastating effects on people’s health should be made available to science and medicine in the interest of better protection for those at risk and

their children and driven by the principle ‘prevention is better than cure.’

Of course, we then come up against the crux of our problem: proper financing is really crucial. To operate properly we need an annual budget of €120,000. We have therefore launched a national drive on social networks for subscribers to a regular payment of around 5 Euros quarterly and we are seeking subsidies from organisations and institutions at both national and international levels, as well as from private companies and research laboratories.

Lastly – we have developed a social section for the veterans and their children which will allow them to obtain preferential rates for assurance and holidays, and we are negotiating with armed services associations for access to their retirement homes.

This then is where we are now.

I want also to mention that we produce every 3 months a newsletter and I would like to suggest that we should make available to you in every issue a page for your news and testimonies. It would of course need to be sent to us in French as I have grave doubts on the ability of our veterans to cope with the language of Major Thompson.

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From the 11th to the 13th October we will be holding our annual general meeting near Le Havre. I very much regret that our finances will only allow us to pay expenses for your president and vice-president and the Standard-Bearer but you are of course most welcome to attend.

Once again, my thanks to all of you for your warm welcome and for your kind attention.

7. Manchester Council Veterans Support – Councillor Tommy Judge Manchester Council were one of the first to recognise Nuclear Test Veterans and to support the BNTVA Recognition Campaign. Councillor Tommy Judge gave an interesting talk on why Manchester was proud to support our cause.

8. Nuclear Free Local Authorities – Mark Hackett & Sean Morris Manchester Council were one of the first to recognise Nuclear Test Veterans and to support the BNTVA

Recognition Campaign. Councillor Tommy Judge gave an interesting talk on why Manchester was proud to support our cause.

Mark and Sean introduced the NFLA organisation which tackles in practical ways, and within their powers, the problems posed by civil and military nuclear hazards.

As the local government voice on nuclear issues, the NFLA are keen to encourge local authorities to adopt anti-nuclear policies and join their network – particularly as the Government plan for nuclear power to be part of the mix of energy supply for the UK over the next 40 years, and are spending billions of pounds each year on replacement nuclear weaponry.

The NFLA aims: •

•

Identify the impact of national nuclear policy on local communities; Work to minimise nuclear hazards and increase public safety.

NFLA provide: • Policy Advice from experienced expert consultants who produce research to influence policy decisions • Briefings on current issues with recommendations for local action • National and International Liaison through an established network of MPs, MEPs, journalists and public interest groups

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• Resource Centre for enquiries, press cutting service, parliamentary and assembly monitoring and electronic information • Conference & Seminar programme • Forums in England, Scotland and Wales meeting quarterly for members to receive progress reports and advise on policy priorities in their localities.

Currently around 50 councils throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland support NFLA policy work. The NFLA support our Recognition Campaign and are lending championing our initiatives within the councils they operate in.

9. Open Forum The day ended with a short open forum session before the inaugural meeting of the Fallout Group.

Gala Dinner A Gala Dinner was held in the evening with light entertainment. This year we decided to have a less formal event so did not invite the local Mayor, we also abandoned the formal top table, opting instead for two round tables for the Conference guests. This relaxed format was well received and we will organise similar next year.

Charity Donations We are pleased to announce that we have been presented with two donations.

The top picture shows Mrs Iris Boland (treasurer of a charity shop in Holbeach) presenting Doug Hern (Trustee) with a a cheque for £1000. It was presented to him on Saturday 20th of September at 12 o’clock, and the Free Press were there to take details.

This charity shop gives many donations over the year and work tirelessly for various organisations and Associations.

The second photograph Cherryl Hobson who is of a very dear friend of Doug and Sandie who lost her mum a few weeks ago.

She wanted to do something to help others so visited Doug and Sandie and presented them with a cheque for £200.00. Doug and Sandie describe her as a real nice lady.

Our thanks go to both for their generous donations.

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Mrs Iris Boland presenting Doug with a cheque for £1000

Cherryl Hobson presenting Doug with a cheque for £200

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BNTVA Contact Details

Registered Charity Number 1131134

This is the only correspondence address and telephone number for the Association.

BNTVA BM 5657 LONDON WC1N 3XX

24 Hour Call Back Service

0208 144 3080

National Chairperson Nigel Heaps Email chairman@bntva.com Skype: nigel.heaps Tel: 0780 7268016 Blackberry message ID 25DFA01C

Vice Chairperson Jeff Liddiatt Email: vice-chairman@bntva.com

Financial Controller Ian Greenhalgh LLB

Organisation Manager Robert Ireland

Email i.greenhalgh@bntva.com

Email trustee@bntva.com Tel: 0780 7268041 Blackberry message ID 25F9CC08

Chaplain The Very Revd Nicholas Frayling BA, LLD

Archive Administrator & Trustee Doug Hern

Email

Email d.hern@bntva.com

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Visit us online at: www.bntva.com London Events Organiser & Trustee Don James Email d.james@bntva.com

Trustee Fred Stellard

Trustee Stephen Evans

Email f.stallard@bntva.com

Email s.evans@bntva.com

Trustee Lisa Bainbridge

Trustee and Campaign Editor Steve Bexon

Email l.bainbridge@bntva.com

Trustee Ian Hall Email i.hall@bntva.com

Email editor@bntva.com

Media Representative Email media@bntva.com

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PM formally recognises plight of nuclear test veterans as our Recognition Campaign steps up On Wednesday 2nd July our Recognition Campaign took a historic step forward when in response to a PMQ from our patron John Baron the Prime Minister, David Cameron became the first British Prime Minister to recognise the selfless contribution of all service personnel who helped equip the UK with our nuclear deterrent.

This statement was one of the three elements of the Recognition Campaign our members tasked the Trustees with achieving. Be under no illusion that this is a hollow gesture or minor accomplishment: To get the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to pay this tribute is a major and historic achievement. This is the furthest any BNTVA campaign has ever progressed in the entire history of this Association.

Here is the transcript from Hansard: John Baron MP BNTVA Patron: “Given that our cross-party campaign seeks recognition and not compensation, including an ex gratia payment by the Government into a charitable fund to help those in need, will the Prime Minister, following our last meeting in April, clear the logjam, recognise the veterans and finally resolve this shameful chapter in our nuclear history?�

The next step is to deliver the Benevolent Fund to support Veterans, Spouses and Descendents in their daily struggle to live with the continuing health effects of the Nuclear Tests

The Prime Minister: “First, I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, who has campaigned consistently on this issue in the House and outside it.

He and I have discussed the matter.

I am happy to tell the House that the Government recognise and are extremely grateful to all the service personnel who participated in the nuclear testing programme.

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landmarkmedia / Shutterstock.com

We should be in no doubt that their selfless contribution helped to equip the UK with the deterrent that it needs.

Following our meeting, I asked my officials to look again at the specific points and arguments that he made.

I will come back to him as soon as possible.”

Don James, BNTVA Trustee said he was “very pleased with the Prime Minister’s on-record comments,” which he described as “one step forward for us. The campaign for the establishment of the benevolent fund is now in the hands of Mr Cameron so lets hope he takes it forward.”

Jeff Liddiatt BNTVA Vice Chair said “When I joined the ‘March on Westminster’ last November I told the press we were like ghosts, nobody sees or recognises us. In one statement David Cameron has changed all that but, it does not stop there, he has also promised to review the other aspects of our campaign and so the task of promoting the Benevolent Fund now takes centre stage .“ Nigel Heaps BNTVA Chair “This is a historic step, so many members have already been in touch to congratulate our team on their achievement. The job of convincing the Government to make a significant contribution toward the Benevolent Fund has also received a boost and delivering this is now firmly in our sights”

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Observations by a Souvenir from Down Under.

G’ day Mates! Let me introduce myself. I don’t have any particular name, despite the moniker of ‘Sport’ hovering around me today.

I am from South Australia, which would in Aussie parlance class me as a ‘crow eater’!

In fact, I am a Koala, not a Koala bear or any other kind of bear, just a Koala and I don’t like crows! Our nearest relatives are the Wombat and Kangaroo species.

The ‘Sheila’s’ of our species have a pouch to bring up the kids in; I can’t find one on me so I guess that makes me a fella!

I used to live in a small place called RAAF Edinburgh Field, near Adelaide, some of you may have heard of it.

My home was on top of a display cabinet in a small shop there that was the leased from the Royal Australian Air Force by Bill Battersby and his Missus; from there they sold souvenirs and knickknacks to the Air Force blokes from the base. Bill was a Corporal in the RAAF so they had a nice little earner going. Day in, day out, I sat there on the cabinet with my limbs akimbo as if hugging a Eucalyptus tree limb, sounds a bit of a dumb pose but that was the way I was made! I didn’t do anything just sat there, but that was OK we Koalas are very laid back and don’t move around much; we need time to digest our Eucalyptus leaves. It was quite a nice place to live, peaceful and quiet at night. Throughout the day, it was more lively and interesting, when many of the Air Force blokes, some of whom had funny accents, would visit us. Known as ‘Pommies’ and ‘whingeing bastards’, they came from a country called ‘UK’, somewhere on the other side of the world. They apparently enjoyed coming into the shop to talk with Bill and his Missus as they also were from that place called UK. I suppose that they

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were homesick and in a way Bill and his Missus were a link to back home.

One day in November 1956 a tall skinny bloke bearing the rank of a Corporal in the Royal Air Force came into the shop, after looking around for a while he picked me up, looked me over and then said to Bill, “How much is he?”

“Four pounds,” said Bill.

“Bit much!” said the skinny fellow, “I’ll leave it for now.”

Next day he was back again, picking me up, turning me over, and over, before putting me back in my position; he and I were becoming quite familiar now, if only he had warmer hands!

Bill asked the skinny fella if he really knew what he was looking for.

Apparently, he was looking for a present to give to a ‘Sheila’ back home in the UK that he was fixing to marry next October.

Bill told him that I would be an unusual present that she would appreciate and a good souvenir for him. The skinny fella asked if my coat was real Koala.

Bill said no, it was Kangaroo but it was fair dingkum Aussie. If the skinny fella had looked at the label attached to the ribbon around my neck, he would have seen for himself. The label also said that I was a fair dingkum Aussie product.

They started bargaining, and then Bill put me in a large paper bag and handed me over.

I thought that ‘skinny’ was getting over familiar with me when he tucked me tightly under his arm. I considered peeing on him before

realising that I did not have the freedom of a Koala in the wild.

Suddenly I am out in the daylight again as he put me on his bedside locker for his mates to inspect and admire. They were an uncouth lot making ribald jokes about me. One suggested that whatever ‘my man’ did he should not put me on the top of his wardrobe, because from there I could pee all over the place and on whoever was around. I was a little peeved at him, just because my fellow Koalas in the wild did that sort of thing did not mean that I would. I was sorely tempted to have a go though, especially over that little Pommie with what ‘my man’ called a Geordie accent. Out of respect to ‘my man’, I refrained from doing so. I spent several weeks perched on that bedside locker.

The building was a strange place to living in; I learned from the conversations between my man and the other Pommie he shared the accommodation with that we were living in a converted explosives handling explosives, so they should feel at home living in the buildings where the stuff had been stored. They had both recently returned from the outback, about 300 or so miles north-west of Adelaide on the Nullaboor Plain at a place called Maralinga, home of the Maralinga Tjarutja people, where some UK boffins had exploded four atomic bombs.

They were always talking about life at Maralinga with 76 Sqdn as part of Operation Buffalo. The topics were many; red sand and spineafax; thunder-

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boxes; trips into the bush with a shovel when the flies and smell made the thunder boxes intolerable. The inequalities of: (a) accommodations – civilised temporary buildings for Aussies with air conditioning versus non-ventilated tents for Poms and (b) the matter of allowances, Aussies 12/6d a day hard living allowances for being in their own country versus longsuffering Poms getting the generous amount of 3/9d per day overseas allowance. The spectacularly beautiful violent explosions; mushroom clouds; radiation; cloud sampling Canberras; decontaminating radioactive Canberras and getting soaked in radioactively contaminated water for several hours each day for about ten days. The subject of film badges, dosimeters and the lack thereof when you needed them most, there were many debates as to whether as the result of this lack (deliberate or otherwise) they were likely to glow in the dark in future years as a result.

Apart from the ‘Wet’ and ‘Dry’ canteens, officially provided recreational facilities were non-existent until someone decided to allow swimming in the large emergency water supply tank. However, my man and his mates preferred their ‘wet’ to be on the inside rather than out! Whatever it was that they had been doing up there they obviously had a great time and enjoyed themselves!

There was never any outward affection between ‘my man’ and me; he never spoke to me; occasionally he would glance at me looking me in the eye,

but nothing else. He was fair dingkum I guess for a Pom! His name I learned was Reg Simpson, I decided there and then that I would continue to refer to him as ‘My man’; it gave me a comforting feeling of superiority over him, after all, he was only a Pom! I very quickly noticed that he was a bit of a practical joker with his mates. He also liked his schooner of beer from the ‘Wet Canteen’ and would frequently visit his two Aussies mates living two rooms along from us who kept a ‘ready use’ supply of ‘plonk’ in a large box in their room. There was always a flow of constant humour when his mates visited us. For a while, he was the object of the humour stemming from the fact there was a certain Aussie WRAAF who tried to attach herself to him, and would not believe that he was a Pom. She said that his accent was too Aussie-like to be a Pom. I suspect that his broad Hampshire accent might have been the cause for the confusion, as she had never seen him in his RAF uniform. He always said that he was committed to a ‘Sheila’ back in the UK and did not want any other attachments. He perpetuated the confusion for as long as he could.

His mate’s take on the situation were that as far as commitment went, he should have been committed and locked away ages ago! All this I learned from the many conversations in the room; being privvy to, but not part of, you understand! I hoped the ‘Sheila’ in the UK would be understanding, whilst I sat next to her photo on the bedside cabinet it was infuriating that I could

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not converse with her. I knew what she looked like, but she had no idea about me. Years later I overheard someone say that I was ‘cute and cuddly’, that was a bit of a downer for a macho Aussie male!

One evening there was a frenzy of activity in the room as the two Poms cleaned and dusted everything in the room. ‘My man’ picked me up and dusted me off – the dust got everywhere including my nether regions.

Suddenly he spoke to me for the first time we had been together.

“Sorry Sport, it’s the CO’s barrack room and kit inspection day tomorrow, so you’ll have to go out of sight into the deep sea box for now!” He indicated the big black box behind his bed. So saying, he placed me in my bag before putting me into the box and closing the lid.

It was a long, long, long time, before I saw the light of day again.

The light was blinding as the lid of the box opened, I was lifted out and placed onto a table; the room was full of strangers gabbing away, unfamiliar voices with ‘my man’s’ distinctive accent. Hands grabbed at my legs, fingers poked me all over - some in awkward places, others pulled at my nose and ears. I had arrived at the Simpson family residence in the UK. I heard ‘my man’s’ voice, “That’s enough for now. I’ll put him away again until later.” I went back into my paper bag and darkness, there I stayed for what seemed a long time. When the bag next

opened, I was in a different location again; this time I was on a dressing table in a bedroom. In the mirrors, I could see my own reflections for the first time – I’m quite a handsome fella!

I don’t remember that there was any great handing over ceremony to the ‘sheila’, but there she was in person, her name was Brenda. Now, we Aussie males are not great on outwardly treating women politely, so I decided as a compromise to refer to her as ‘his Missus’ rather than ‘the sheila’. Sitting on the dressing table facing the bed was very interesting to say the least, I wasn’t aware those sorts of things went on.

I was concerned for them when in December 1959 ‘my man’ left the RAF after eight years - something to do with the incompatibility of Service life and married life. Very unprepared, he had cast himself adrift in the wilderness of civilian life, but they prospered and as they moved homes, I moved with them. During this time, they acquired two joeys of their own.

In November 1977 I overheard news that filled me with hope; ‘my man’ and his Missus were going to Australia as part of the rash promise he had made to her that he would take her to all the places the Government had sent him; for him it was to be a nostalgia visit. Could I going home? No such luck, they were only going on holiday and I would have to stay behind in the UK. Hampshire is OK, but there’s not a sign of a solitary comforting Eucalyptus tree to be seen anywhere.

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When they left the house went quiet, so I just sat there on the dressing table waiting as the days went by.

Finally, voices downstairs; they were back! I waited patiently for them to come into the bedroom. Eventually ‘his Missus’ came into the room carrying a Joey Koala; she sat him in between my outstretched limbs. He fitted comfortably there, and could only have been about a year old. He was in a state of shock and it took a while before he calmed enough to tell me his dreadful story. It seems that not unlike me he had been living in a small gift shop, in his case near the railway station in Adelaide sitting on a display case with his mother. One day out the blue, my man and his Missus came into the shop looking for souvenirs; she spotted Joey and said that he would be just the thing to keep me company on the dressing table. The upshot was that he was wrenched away from his mother and bundled into a paper bag and then into a suitcase. The next thing he knew he was dumped onto me.

What a dreadful story, it is enough to make you want to pee over everyone. My heart went out to him and I assured him that he would be safe with me and that ‘my man’ would look after us. He lapsed into a terrible state of depression over the loss of his mother and his country; he has barely uttered a word since!

Life went on and we continued to sit on the dressing table getting the occasional dusting off.

On his birthday in 1999 ‘my man’ decided to retire from work and for the next two years he was always around the house tuning up his housekeeping skills. He became quite adept at making the bed and driving the vacuum cleaner, his hands became much softer due to them having frequent soakings in washing-up water. He also developed considerable skills that are normally attributed to hotel waiting staff. In very short order, he became an accomplished decorator; due no doubt, in part to that early RAF basic training command of, ‘If it doesn’t move – paint it’ was to come in useful after all. He could occasionally he heard grizzling that ‘a man’s work is never done’! If only those old mates from Aussie could have seen him, they would have had a great time ragging him!

One day in early March 2001 the tranquillity of the bedroom was shattered when several large cardboard boxes appeared and his Missus started filling them with bedding etc.; we were off to live in Canada. Yep, you guessed it, Joey and me were consigned to one of the boxes. When we emerged from the box we were in Alberta, Canada, at an outback village called Westerose.

We were once again re-united with the dressing table. Canada seemed an odd place to go, hot and dusty in summer and very, very cold in the winter. In winter times for several months, the snow was halfway up the bedroom windows and the bottom of the window was four feet off the ground. Then I

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found it was not such an odd place for them to go after all, their female joey lived about an hours’ drive away in Edmonton.

his own pee problem. His observation is - Prostate Cancer is NOT the end of the world UNLESS you do not accept advice and get the appropriate treatment.

In October 2004 my man was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer; obviously not getting enough Eucalyptus leaves in his diet! Despite this diagnosis he had not lost his sense of humour, when he asked the surgeon what could be done about it he was told he had two real options, Chemotherapy or radical surgery.

He asked what if nothing is done; the answer was brutal; in six months, you will not be here to worry about it!

My man then asked if there was any other alternative treatment.

The surgeon looked him in the eye, and then answered, “We could always give you the old farm dog treatment.”

“What’s that?” “When the old farm dog reaches the end, the farmer takes him out the back and shoots him!” My man always says that when he heard this last statement he knew that he had found the right man to sort out this medical problem, because with a sense of humour like that, the surgeon should have been an armourer. This was the start of great rapport between the two of them.

We moved homes a couple of times in Canada after this and then the decision was taken in 2010 to return to the UK, as the health of both of them was getting a bit crook and they were now real oldies. Therefore, it was back into the box again and into a sea container.

Back home in the UK – yes it felt like it was home, I have been away from Oz for 56 years now, and I am sure that I have lost most of my Aussieness, apart that is from my ability to recognise the humour in any given situation. We moved into a house not far from where we lived before we went to Canada. Joey and me returned to our usual place on the dressing table and life settled down to its’ usual routine once more. My man is now more domesticated than he once was and is always grizzling that’ ‘ a man’s work is never done’. In April last year - 2012 – he decided to have his leaky pee system addressed. According to his UK surgeon, it was a simple 45-minute procedure incorporating an overnight stay in Hospital. During the surgical procedure, the surgeon would insert a ‘male urinary sling’ under the urethra to support it, as the prostate was no longer there to provide support to the bladder. He would have to make three small incisions, one behind the scrotum and one in each groin – simple!

Everything went according to plan. The only variation was the one night overstay

My man was faced with, and then accepted the seriousness of the situation; opting for the radical surgery.

At the end of November 2004, he was in hospital for a week and four weeks later was back on his feet again, albeit, with

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became two, due to my man’s heart going a little crook. This will be news to his old mates as they reckoned that he didn’t have one! Recovery at home was not that comfortable; no matter how he tried to sit, it was extremely uncomfortable bringing tears to his eyes! The most comfortable position was lying on his back, this he took full advantage of for the first week; of course he’d had plenty of training for this during his RAF career! It was a full three weeks before he could begin to sit in a comfortable position. His advice to anyone electing to have this surgery is, go ahead and do it, but first purchase/ obtain an inflatable ring to sit on! I can tell you it was amusing to watch him trying to get himself out of bed, the edge of the bed always pressing on the most tender of areas no matter how he moved himself.

The manoeuvring could take a full five minutes, so, advanced planning for a pee was essential!

I recently had a very nasty shock to my normally placid life. My man and his Missus decided to have a muck-out of the bedroom, so Joey and me were temporarily relocated to top of the sideboard in the living room. Looking around my surroundings, I spotted at the other end of the sideboard what could only be a baby Koala stuck up a plastic pole in a flowerpot. I tried attracting its attention to no avail. It looked traumatised; I wonder what tale of abduction it also might tell.

The television had been left on; I’m not sure that it was for our benefit. With nothing else to do, I idly watched the pictures flickering across the screen, suddenly my attention was caught by an advert about paper for the dunny; I did not want to believe what I was seeing.

Right before my eyes was an effeminate looking Koala rolling and floating about from cloud to cloud and then cuddling a toilet roll. Cuddling a toilet roll, can you believe it? I can’t tell you how embarrassed I was! What would any self- respecting Koala want with a toilet roll? They just let go wherever they are and get on with life! Then there is the portrayal of that Koala. I was very indignant; we are true dingkum Aussies.

OK, so we don’t wear hats with corks on strings, we also don’t wear makeup either and we sure as hell don’t prance around like fairies from cloud to cloud.

I am beginning to see why my man gets so grizzly about political correctness and homophobia!

For him and his Missus mobility has become a bit of a problem these days, their knees have become a bit crook, stairs up and down require to be negotiated one by one – carefully; she can’t kneel at all and if he gets down on his knees he can’t get back up. His Missus feels safe in the knowledge that should he escape from her protective care and somehow get on one knee to propose to another woman, that is where she will find him, still on one knee unable to get up again. For what it’s worth, these days he’s not

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a particularity good catch for any active hot-blooded woman anyway!

I watch him in the bedroom as he gets dressed or the reverse, he’s like an aged ballerina - knows all the moves but can’t make them with any certainty. He’s now less than his six feet two inches when I first met him, he’s put on a few pounds but not too many, the belly is sagging a bit, legs are like matchsticks anaemic nowadays, not heavily tanned as back in ‘56. When he tries to put his strides on the sight is hilarious. He stands there on his wobbly skinny legs trying to decide which one to use first, then tries balancing on the other before that knee gives out - which it does. To avoid ending up with two feet in one leg of the strides, he gives in and sits on the bed to get his legs into the strides, frequently his Missus has to come to his rescue! Sometimes his left shoulder plays up and he gets jammed, half in half out of anything that goes over his head. I believe that he has now also reverted to Velcro fittings on his shoes as he says he can’t bend down long enough to tie shoelaces. I suspect the truth is he can’t reach his feet – long though his arms are!

Of course, to be fair, he is knocking on 80 now! For all that implies he does not appear to have any signs of approaching senility, despite comments such as, “You silly old fool” being periodically directed at him! Admittedly he does have odd quirky eccentricities like, living in the present but preferring the ‘old days’, getting vehemently agitated by the

way the members of the armed forces are routinely ‘sold down the river’ by successive UK governments, whereas if the boot was on the other foot it would be called treachery; punishable by death.

That’s another of his grizzles – where the hell is the death penalty?

He will extol to the point of embarrassment for his listener, his fervent admiration of any young man that joins any of the Armed Forces. The modern military wife however he finds a bit of an embarrassment because of their habit of whingeing when their man has to go on deployment for six months.

He does of course come from an era when men went off to war and many were gone for five years and in that time suffered unimaginable privations often paying the ultimate price a military man can pay – his life! After the war, a normal overseas deployment was a mere two and a half years. Six months? The fellas hardly have time to acclimatise! To quote his words: “It should always be remembered that anyone voluntarily joining the military does so in the knowledge that they will have to make sacrifices and maybe the ultimate sacrifice, being in the military is a badge of honour not to be taken lightly or denigrated. Pity some of the wives don’t see the full picture.”

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Sometimes ‘my man’ can’t remember clearly what happened a week ago, but go back 50 or 60 years and he is a virtual walking – well hobbling - encyclopaedia.

He is grizzly about modern ideas of so-called ‘gay’ marriage; his view is at least that keeps the birth rate down!

Other grizzles are women vicars- not that he’s churchy at all, despises deliberate single mothers – but pitying the children; the concepts of racial harmony and the immigration into his country of those who contribute nothing to the country. Another grizzle is the fad for texting – what’s wrong with talking directly to people albeit over the ether or the wires, that way they won’t know that you can’t spell. Homophobia; now, that’s a subject that will set him grizzling!

If you are willing to upset him and incur his wrath, try discussing with him the subject of Britain’s being in the European Union, it’s not a pretty sight, or sound! Furthermore, never ever, bring up the subject of his two pet hates after the European Union - today’s unworldly inexperienced do-gooders appetite for political correctness and the subject of the dumbing down of British patriotism.

Please, do not do it, we don’t want to lose him just yet!

I must admit that he is still pretty good for a, quote: ‘silly old fool’ – her words not mine! She’s put up with him for a year longer than me and him have known each other, she must be very tolerant. They celebrated their 55th

year of marriage recently – Emerald I believe; she must be a gem!

As I watch them going through life pretending that things are not as bad as they appear, I wonder what will happen to me and Joey when they are gone to the paddock in the sky. Him, his Missus, and me we’ve been together for 56 years, yet in spite of the lack of verbal intercourse, I’m going to miss them when they’re gone. They can’t last forever! What will become of us, will we I wonder, be tossed into a rubbish skip destined for some landfill site? At least I’ll be accustomed to the dark! Perhaps we may be taken into care by someone.

Hopefully, it will be the latter and we will appear on a future episode of Antiques Roadshow as a curiosity item, but unless someone ties this narrative alongside the label around my neck, no one will be aware of the history and story we could tell.

Either way - we are stuffed, well and truly.

Reg Simpson

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Requesting information for Peter Bear - Royal Engineers One of our members saw this article in the Daily Mail from a Mrs Pauline Seppings to Gill Whitley of the Daily Mail dated 3rd of September. She is looking for information on her brother and our good samaritan member wonders if any other readers can help.

Dear Gill Whitley I have been trying to pluck up the courage to write to you for some time, then suddenly thought “Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.” I have enclosed the cutting from the Daily Mail dated 19 July that has been haunting me ever since.

This may be just a wild shot in the dark. My brother was in the Royal Engineers on Christmas Island during that time. Unfortunately he died in 1981; he had polycythaemia, a blood cancer caused through radiation.

I would love to know whether any of the lads in the picture knew him. His name is PETER BEAR and he was in the postal unit. I tried to find the phone number of sapper Alan Clack as he lives in Chelmsford which is quite near to Sudbury, but to no avail.

I would love to speak to him and put my mind at rest whether he or any of the others knew him - that is of course if he would like to speak to me.

I hope you don’t mind my writing to you.

Yours truly and hopefully.

Mrs Pauline Seppings If any of our readers can help please email us and we will contact Mrs Seppings to let her know - editor@bntva.com

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Jim Oxton - Christmas Island memories My National Service began in September 1957 when I climbed aboard a 3 Ton truck at Malvern railway station, and together with about a dozen more recruits, entered No 1 Training Rgt.Next stop was No 9 Training Rgt at Farnborough, where we completed Basic Training and Field Engineering.

I was then posted to Brompton Barracks at Chatham, where I spent Christmas and New Year, and also did a trade test as an Instrument Technician X3. In early January, I arrived at Barton Stacey, and eventually I found out that I was bound for Christmas Island. We flew in an RAF Comet, stopping briefly in Iceland to refuel, before spending the night in Canadian Air Force Base at Goose Bay, Labrador. Next day we continued,with a short stop in Nebraska, and then on to Travis USAF Base near San Francisco, where we were unable to continue in the Comet, and had to switch to United Airlines. This change of planes allowed us a couple of days to explore San Francisco. After arriving in Honolulu, we were billeted in Hickham Field USAF Base for 5 days until an RAF Hastings was available to complete the journey to Christmas Island.

I joined 38 Rgt Royal Engineers, and worked in RE Workshops for a couple of months, doing many different jobs, before being transfered to 73 Christmas Island Squadron, where I worked as an Engine Fitter, overhauling and servicing diesel generators providing power to the Main Camp and various other outposts. When I next changed tents, I was lucky to meet three great guys; Cpl Lofty Logan, Sid Grady, and Brian McDonald, and we all got along really well. Brian and I became firm friends at that time, and we are still the best of friends today, even though I have lived in Western Canada for 46 years, and he lives in England; we keep in contact, and visit each other from time to time. Like everyone, I experienced land crab attacks, cockroaches and bed bugs,as well as prickly heat and ring worm. Fleabag was the name of a dog that adopted us, and she was nothing like her name would suggest. She was one of the friendliest dogs you could imagine, and loved by everyone. Just before Christmas 1958, we abandoned

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the tents and moved into huts. This move created a major crisis when we were ordered that Fleabag would not be allowed to sleep in the hut with the guys, so I scavenged some lumber and built a custom kennel for her, which was positioned outside the hut door, and this was OKd by the Duty Officer on the next inspection, and Fleabag seemed to like it too.The Fitter’s Team was a great bunch of lads, under the command of Staff Sergeant “ Zift “ Fell, an NCO who got the best out of his team, because he was liked by the Team.There were two H-Bomb tests and two A-Bomb tests while I was on the Island, and I missed another H-Bomb test in Sept because I was on leave in Honolulu. My tour on Christmas Island lasted a year to the day. The flight home was on a chartered DC4, stopping for fuel at Honolulu and staying a night in a hotel in San Francisco. After that we spent a night in St Louis, then short stops in Gander Newfoundland and Iceland before arriving at Stanstead in the UK. After my disembarkation leave I went to Long Marsden near Stratford-uponAvon, and were they glad to see me, because there were three big parades coming up and they were short of bodies. The first was an AOC inspection, the second was Shakespeare’s Birthday Parade in Stratford, and the third was The Royal Engineers receiving the Freedom of the City of Stratford in dress blue uniform, so you can imagine how many hours I spent practicing on the

Parade Ground at Long Marsden in the last seven months of my National Service.Anyway, I’m happy to say I survived.

(Top) The Cookhouse at a slack time between meals.

(Centre) is the power station for the Main Camp, (Bottom)he diving board at one of our picnic sites.

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R.E. Workshops won the football Cup in 1958, ( I guess it was called The Grapple Cup ), and Tommy Burke from Liverpool, with hands on hips,is ready to grab the Cup from the RAF Officer.

McGinty, Tom Freeman, ( ? ) ,Sid Grady, Jack Nutall, ( Pete ? ) ,and Jim Oxton, waiting for a truck to take us to the Swimming Lagoon on a Sunday morning

Sunday at the Swimming Lagoon

Tom Freeman, Ben Burgess, Jim Oxton and Fleabag on the beach near Main Camp.

Tent lines and an ablution station. The small black hut in the background is the projectionist’s room for the outdoor cinema.

Jim Oxton, Sid Grady, ( ? ), ( ? ), Jack Nuttall, ( ? ), Fleabag, and Tom Freeman, at the Swimming Lagoon.

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Swimming gala on Boxing Day 1958

73 Christmas Island Squadron Engine Fitter’s Team, led by Staff Sergeant Fell ( popularly known as “Zift” ) ,the tall guy with the moustache standing on the left of the picture.

The other members of the team are, Pete (?), Pete Gray, Tom Freeman, Bernie (?), Kennedy, Jack Nuttall, Ben Burgess, Jim Oxton, and Sid Grady. Brian McDonald was taking the photo.

It was a great bunch of guys.

Enjoying 7 days leave in Oahu

After moving into the huts, I had to build a kennel for Fleabag, so we decided to have a picture taken to celebrate the occasion.

There is (?) , JimOxton,Pete Gray, Bob Walters, Bernie (?), Tom Freeman, and Fleabag of course.

(Right) This is my buddy Brian McDonald walking on the road to the Port.

44 | CAMPAIGN Summer 2014

My Dad’s Story Mr Albert Manley 4130325 S.A.C Manley My dad was in the (MDTM) Motor Transport Driver Mechanic.

Whilst stationed at RAF Hucknell Nottingham, in 1955 a notice appeared asking for volunteers for a short detachment to Australia, he did not know what for but put his name down to volunteer.

He then forgot about it until June 1956 when at RAF Amport, Nr Andover, he received notice that he was to be posted to Australia. He had two weeks to get ready which included passport photos and injections for service in the Far East. He was issued with tropical uniform and equipment.

He flew from Heathrow airport to Australia via America, in a civilian aircraft. He eventually arrived from Adelaide to Maralinga in a Dakota Aircraft.

Maralinga On arrival at Maralinga he found out he was to be billeted in tents on the airfield, he remembers it was very hot by day and very cold at night. It was then that he and his colleagues were informed the reason why they were there, it was to witness nuclear explosions, for test series Buffalo.

He remembers the third detonation the first dropped from the air by

the RAF, they were moved from the airfield being told, in case there was an incident with the aircraft (Vickers Valiant), taking off with a bomb on board. From the detonation point he was made to stand on the top of the bank, just before the detonation they were told to jump down behind the bank and cover their eyes with their hands. The first thing he knew about the explosion was the flash which he could see through the gaps in his fingers, then the shock wave and last the sound, he could then see the mushroom cloud going up and evaporating the small clouds on the way.

He remembers vividly being taken up close to the detonation point and witnessing the damage done to dummy vehicles and mock buildings, put there to see the results of the explosion. He recalls seeing one side of the vehicles were blown right in,

CAMPAIGN Summer 2014 | 45

and the other side hardly touched.

As he passed through the explosion zone the dust was very thick, but they were not issued with any protective gear, all his was wearing was boots, shorts, socks and a cap. He remembers that the men working on the aircraft mainly canberra, who were following the cloud, were wearing protective clothing. One of my dad’s jobs was to transport them from the airfield to the de contamination centre. He recalls he was checked once and was informed he was contaminated, but nothing was ever done about it.

thrombocytosis, this was diagnosed following a routine blood test which indicated a raised platelet count. This makes her more at risk of having a stroke or heart attack. One year ago her daughter was also diagnosed with the same condition, apparently it is not hereditary and at present no consultant can explain why both would have this condition.

He left for England on Nov 5th 1956 (his 21st birthday), on SS Strathnavor detoured around South Africa because of the Suez Crisis.

Kind Regards Albert (Jim) Manley and Caroline Sharp

Dad is now ages 78 and was in reasonably good health until his 50’s when he developed Type 1 diabetes (insulin dependent), this has led to severe neuropathy which effects his mobility, this now being very limited he also has limited use of his hands, as the neuropathy has left his fingers with no feeling.. At about that time he also developed severe hearing loss and his eyesight began to fail. He also has problems with his bowels and as yet no cause can be found.

His first born daughter Caroline was diagnosed three years ago with a condition called Electo-

My dad would love to hear from anyone who might have been with him at the time, he may have been called Jim then, they can contact him via my e mail liney404@btinternet.com.

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Remembering Wally Holdsworth Wally Holdsworth member of West Yorkshire branch BNTVA since 1997 took over as Chairman in 2000 and passed away on 23rd April 2014.

During that time he campaigned tirelessly for the Nuclear Vets. He had a variety of jobs down the years, including service with the Royal Fleet Auxilliary, at Christmas Island 1956/57. He was a hard working and dedicated leader of our Branch and an excellent organiser. He affiliated with the Leeds Rifles Comrades, provided personnel and a Standard bearer to many joint service and civilian remembrance day parades at Leeds Parish church and at funerals of Comrades and at other service functions in the Leeds-West Yorkshire region.

He had many contacts that he used in support of the BNTVA especially through the columns of the Yorkshire Evening Post where he had many letters published over the years. He was involved with the placing of a memorial stone at the Leeds Parish church for those involved in the Nuclear tests in Australia and Christmas Island. He was responsible for providing the Branch with our BNTVA Standard, well used at a variety of ceremonial functions. wally was, for us, a friend, leader, fixer, man of great humour, liaison Officer for all three Services and a number of VIPs called upon to support our cause: i.e. expert at separating prominent figures from their money (all going towards the Nuclear Veterans).

We all, at the branch, looked up to Wally. He engendered respect, admiration, comradeship, optimism, had true Yorkshire spirit and we all loved him. His wife Sylvia passed away three years ago from which he never fully recovered. He ended his days at Colton Lodge nursing Home, Leeds, with pneumonia.

We have had a flourishing West Yorkshire Branch but in common with other branches, a number of members have passed away over recent years.

Although we have lost our leader, we are determined to carry on our fight for the Veterans through our dwindling but dedicated Branch, and plan to meet informally but as regularly as possible. We still have at least eleven regular members.

Frank Craig

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Remembering Roy Howard We are sad to announce that Roy passed away on 4th January. He joined the Royal Engineers (his grandfather’s regiment) on National Service.

He was a sapper in 73sqn E&M attached to 38sqn.

From January to December 1958 he was posted to Christmas Island at Banana Water Hole, where he witnessed 5 nuclear tests. Roy was proud to represent the BNTVA at the annual services at Westminster Garden of Remembrance and the Cenotaph each November.

He was a long standing member of the Association, attending the London area meetings at Lithuanian House and RE Museum in Chatham. He was a regular at the Christmas Island reunions in Sand Bay and attended several AGMs, the last one at Bournemouth in 2012. His funeral at Pirbright was attended by BNTVA colleagues and Don James honoured him by acting as Standard Bearer.

Roy Howard 1938 -2014 Army Number 23391971

Information on Robert H Halley Dear BNTA members, Able seaman Robert Halley (Bobby) died on Christmas Island on 22nd July 1962, and was buried at sea. This was a tragedy for his family who never had the opportunity of attending his funeral, or indeed, not having him buried in a cemetery in his home town of Bromsgrove, Worcs.

I am his nephew and although he died before I was born, his sister (my mother) often spoke about him. I would appreciate any messages from members who might have known him.

Yours sincerely, Paul Longden

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Maralinga - 1957 Bob Constable writes of his experiences of Maralinga 1957.

Member no. C 104 I was a member of a small group of aircraft fitters tasked with the job of renovating several Swift aircraft that had been used as targets in the 1956 test series. The Swifts were a part of a huge group of objects set up in the desert to assess the effect of a nuclear explosion.

I recall there were military vehicles as well as cars and buses and several dwelling dispersed at various ranges and attitudes to the point of explosion.

Most of the aircraft were beyond repair but those facing and furthest away from the blast were repairable to a suitable structural state to allow them to be used as targets in the forthcoming tests.

We were of course working in a highly radioactive area. We used Land Rovers to drive from the base at Maralinga to a series of caravans operated by the Army and set up at what I assume was a safe distance(!). We donned white coveralls and set off on foot armed with our tools and dosimeters for the aircraft. The surface of the sand had been fused to a 5 mm depth by the heat of the previous explosion and walking on it was similar to walking across a pond with a film of ice – but it was anything but cold!

Although the heat was not so much as a problem as the flies. I rapidly discovered why Australians hang corks from their

hat brims! There were flies everywhere, in our eyes, nose and mouths and it was impossible to swat them away and do work, so in the end we just ignored them, but it was most unpleasant.

At the end of the working session we returned to the caravans to shower and be checked with the ubiquitous Geiger counter. Sometimes having to shower more than once.

As much as anything I remember the food. The Army blokes did the catering and the food was probably the best I had anywhere during my 15 years in the RAF. How they managed in the desert I’ve no idea, but we had a fantastic choice of cooked food, salads and even ice cream!

Like a wonderful barbeque every day – and what a setting.

But the good(?) times came to an end after 2 or 3 weeks and we then returned to Edinburgh Fields for the remainder of the tour.

Bob Constable Bob also added “I suffer from lumber spondylosis but other than that I have no problems and neither does my son.

Needless to say the MoD denies any responsibility for the former”.

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Renovated Memorial Stone Portsmouth Cathedral Sheila Watt shares her shot of the renovated memorial stone at Portsmouth Catherdral - despite the pouring rain.

Here are 2 photos of the renovated Memorial Stone at Portsmouth Cathedral, taken on the 3rd of October. After the rain had ceased somewhat. I had to tip up the Wreath to pour out its enclosed water, but no doubt it would have filled up again later? I doubt anyone else took any shots as the rain POURED all during the Service. We got wet!

Sheila I. Watt, BN22 0QW.

50 | CAMPAIGN Summer 2014

An Uncertain Future – a new book that certainly has a future British Veteran and BNTVA Member David Hemsley has just had his book, An Uncertain Future published by Aspect Design.

The BNTVA will have this book for sale in the online shop which you can visit from our new look website. If you do not have internet access please contact Ian Hall who manages our merchandising.

“An Uncertain Future is a fictional story which is based on fact. The author follows the lives of a group of boys who were conscripted into the Army for their obligatory two years’ National Service—it would be an adventure that would change their lives forever. They had unwittingly become involved in the development of the hydrogen bomb, the most awesome weapon known to man.

This story also serves as a poignant reminder of how dangerous these weapons can be. The hydrogen bomb has so far proved to be a deterrent to any aggressor, but for how long will this last?”

Nigel Heaps, BNTVA Chairperson.

“David kindly send me a copy of his book to read and review. This story

gripped me straight from the start, not just because of the portrayal of emotions and situation, with what is really an unimaginable experience, but also because of the insight in to the world our fathers lived in, their aspirations and drive. Our veterans had Grandfathers in the Great war, Fathers in the Second Word War. They grew up knowing only the fear of war and the privation of rationing, this forged a unique attitude and approach to life that one seldom finds today. Anyone wanting to gain an insight into what these men and their families have gone through to provide this Nation its place at the world nuclear table should read this book.”

An Uncertain Future by David Hemsley £12.99 from the BNTVA Shop ISBN-10: 1908832649 Publisher: Aspect Design (26 Aug 2014) Paperback: 384 pages

CAMPAIGN Summer 2014 | 51

Frank Walker - Author and Journalist writes book on Australia’s atomic tests - Maralinga The following text is the authors description of his book.

During the 1950s–60s, with the blessing of Prime Minister Robert Menzies, the British government used Australia as its nuclear laboratory.

They exploded twelve atomic bombs on Australian soil – at the Monte Bello Islands, Emu Field and Maralinga.

Sixteen thousand Australian servicemen were guinea pigs.

RAAF pilots were ordered to fly into nuclear mushroom clouds, soldiers told to walk in radioactive ground zero, sailors retrieved highly contaminated debris – none of them aware of the dangers they faced.

But the betrayal didn’t end with our servicemen. Secret monitoring stations were set up around the continent to measure radiation levels and a clandestine decadeslong project stole bones from dead babies to see how much fallout had contaminated their small bodies – their grieving parents were never told.

Investigative journalist Frank Walker’s Maralinga is a must-read true story of scientists treating an entire population as lab rats and politicians sacrificing their own people in the pursuit of power.

Maralinga is released by Hachette in September 2014 as both printed book and ebook.

52 | CAMPAIGN Summer 2014

Copies of the Constitution The current version of the BNTVA Constitution is available from the links on our website where you can also download and print your personal copies.

We need your email address We are trying to keep an up to date database of our members email addresses so we can send out more information of press events etc.

Can you please email us your details to info@bntva.com so we can update our records.

Any member attending the AGM who wishes a hard copy of the Constitution may order one for collection at the event by emailing info@bntva.com The cost of ÂŁ1.50 will be payable on collection.

CAMPAIGN Summer 2014 | 53

BNTVA Shop Window Band 1 items For Get Me Not Lapel Badge NEW ITEM Car Badge Blazer Badge BNTVA Lapel Badge Cuff Links Key Fob Tie Clip Trolley Token Bookmark Grapple Tie BNTVA Tie woven BNTVA Tie printed

£3.00 £3.00 £12.00 £2.50 £5.00 £2.00 £3.00 £1.00 £3.00 £9.50 £10.00 £7.50

Band 2 Items Caps Baseball Scarves Fleece Scarves Silk Shirts Small to XXXL

£11.00 £12.00 £13.00 £12.50

Band 3 Item Fleece Small to XXXL Mugs NAVAD & BNTVA

£22.00 £6.50

Band 4 Item Tankard Glass

£20.00

ALL PRICES PLUS POST AND PACKING Band 1 add £1.00 Band 2 add £3.00 Band 3 add £4.00 Band 4 add £5.00

BNTVA BM 5657 London WC1N 3XX

ONLIN

SHOPE

AVAILA BLE O NEW L N THE OO WEBSIT K E

54 | CAMPAIGN Summer 2014

Ways to pay your annual BNTVA membership subscription Set out below are the methods you can use to pay your membership subscription, due 1st of April each year.

By standing order using the personalised standing order form sent out with the Winter Edition of the magazine.

By using the BACS system take your cheque or cash into any HSBC branch make out the paying in slip with the following details: HSBC Bank plc 13 Parliament Street York YO1 8XS Sort code: 40-47-31 Account number: 64259351 Account name: British Nuclear Test Veterans Association By using your own Internet Banking account make the payment using the details above.

Membership is available for purchase from the shop UK Membership - UK Single Member £20, UK Family (partner & dependent children) £30, Overseas Single Member £30, Overseas Family (partner & dependent children) £40

If you are unable to use any above ways to pay, CHEQUES made out to the BNTVA only, can be sent to the central address.

BNTVA BM 5657 London WC1N 3XX

Have we got your correct address details?

Can you please check that your correct address and postcode is shown on mailing address labels on any communications that we send to you? If we have the incorrect address (especially postcode) please contact us and let us know the correct details. See the address above for the Association’s contact details.

CAMPAIGN Summer 2014 | 55

Australian Descendants Facebook Group Following from the success of the Fallout Group on FaceBook Veterans descendents in Australia are trying to replicate the group in their country.

BNTVA

Fallout Descendents Group Supporting the work of the BNTVA Charity

If you are based in Australia or have family out there please pass the word and ask them to get in contact with: Mark Mottram from Townsville Queensland.

His email is: mottrammark@hotmail.com

Campaign magazine is published by the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association.

Editor: Steve Bexon.

Next issue copy Deadline 31st December.

All contributions for the magazine should be sent to the London address or emailed to editor@bntva.com BNTVA is not an anti-nuclear or an anti-war association. All opinions,views and quotations do not represent official BNTVA policy and are the sole responsibility of the writer.

Photographs and images – Š Copyright of owner acknowledged.

Campaign cannot guarantee total accuracy for any reproduction of letters / articles / transcripts. BNTVA is a Registered Charity Reg. No 1131134 supporting past and present UK Nuclear Test Combined Service Veterans and their families.

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