BNTVA Newsletter July 2001

Newsletter, July 2001- Chairman' Report Our AGM, in April of this year, went very well indeed, so unlike the fiasco of last year's AGM! A new Executive Committee was democratically elected and is working well together. Things are continuing to be set right which is putting us back on a true course for justice and recognition. This is thanks to the hard work of our Secretary, Sheila Gray and our Treasurer, Ken Roberts, both of them are working seven days (yes, seven days) a week!

They, with the support and backing of the rest of the Committee and our members, have seen BNTVA retrieve its good name and will also ensure we achieve our aims. Your main news is covered within these few pages so I will just mention some future dates for your diaries.

WED 3 OCT '01-Nuclear Veterans Day Service in St Johns Gardens, Liverpool SUN 7 OCT '01 - A Parade and Service in Risca, S Wales SUN 11 Nov '01- Armistice Day Remembrance Day Parade, The Cenotaph, London-tickets are on order and those wishing to attend can contact either myself or Ken Taylor, for same. A stamped addressed envelope to return your tickets to you would be appreciated.

The coming year, 2002, will mark the 50th Anniversary of our first Bomb Test-Thursday 3 October 2002.

This was Operation Hurricane and reputed to be the dirtiest Test of all our 21 Tests. Along with our Chaplain, Canon Nicholas Frayling, we plan a National Service of Remembrance in Liverpool Parish Church on Thursday 3 October 2002. However, prior to that date, we plan to hold a similar Service in Portsmouth Cathedral, which will take place on Tuesday, 19 February 2002. It was on this date, in 1952, that the Advance Party of "Operation Hurricane" sailed out of Portsmouth, bound for Monte Bello Island in Australia, aboard the Tank Landing Ships, the HMS Narvik and the HMS Zeebrugge. Therefore, I urge all Army, Navy and Royal Marine personnel, who sailed out on that day, or their widows and families, to attend this Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving. Just think- fifty years on-what a reunion it will be! I hope to give you full and final details of this proposed Service in our Christmas Newsletter.

Finally, I hope to arrange our AGM for 2002 on Saturday, 27 April 2002 in Blackpool. Best wishes to you all.

Peter FLETCHER MBE SOLICITOR As some of you will be aware, our Solicitor, Ian Greenhalgh, has been working 'flat out' on our behalf and our many thanks go to him for his endeavours, his understanding and his patience. Unfortunately, so many members have taken their tribunal worries to him that he has become saturated by them and has had to call a halt to taking on any new cases for the time being. He will fulfil his promises to those he has already taken on board but asks these veterans to be patient with him, he is dealing with your case but perhaps not at the pace you, or even he, had hoped. Ian is a sole practitioner and 'works' for us in his own time and any little time he can spare from his own work, at a very modest cost I might add and, as he has said, there are only so many hours in each day! If any of you have just spoken to Ian about your affairs but not got around to actually instructing him to act for you, then, unfortunately he cannot accept your case. We hope you will understand the quandary he is in, he would dearly like to represent you all but time does not allow for this to be feasible.

ABSENT FRIENDS-'King Peter of Hermite Island Dies' The first British Officer to re-enter the Monte Bello Islands, within hours of the detonation, to collect samples, passed away recently following a long and painful illness, which was borne bravely. Major Peter Sherburn RE Retired, was known to us as 'King Peter'. Hermite Island, on the Monte Bellos, was his domain - it was his Island and we Sappers were his subjects!

Within hours of detonation he and a party of Sappers, were landed to collect samples of rocket heads, etc, for scientists to analyse. We lost contact with each other in 1956 but met up again in 1989. Jokingly, he told me, ifl managed to return to the Islands and land, he would make me 'Prince of Hermite' and make me his heir to the crown! I did return and 1 did land and so became 'Prince Peter of Hermite'! Peter Sherburn's illness was, I understand, radiation linked! He lost his fight last month and I was invited to attend his funeral and say a few words. Sadly, not a month goes by without Sheila or myself, being informed of a comrade passing on. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to all of you who have lost a loved one. "We will remember them".

Peter FLETCHER MBE

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Ken said that when the accounts were eventually handed back, he was advised to examine them thoroughly because the authorised Accountant had suspicions about some of the expense claims. It was discovered that the accounts had been consistently misused and this is why we had to involve the Courts. He told the Meeting that it had been their money that had been misused! He then explained the accounts in detail.

At the time of the AGM 2000 the current account had a grand total of £167.35. One year later, he was pleased to say that the balance, at 31 December 2000, stood at £3,851 and even better, right up to the present day, 28 April 2001, it is now £7,218.25!

The Meeting was informed that copies of the previous accounts were available if anyone wished to see them.

The accounts were accepted by the Meeting - Les Gosling proposed this and Mr Pritchard seconded the motion.

6. Solicitor's Report. Ian introduced himself and said he was very pleased to be at the AGM and was honoured to accept the position of Association Solicitor. It had certainly not been an easy twelve months for him because he had to help untangle a lot of the legal mess, which unfortunately had been presented, as a result of the previous goings on at the last AGM. This also included a Court case in connection with one of the former Officers. At the same time and entirely independent of the Association, he had acted for a number of members in relation to pensions. He was currently dealing with a further 24 cases. However, this work has to come largely out of his own time. He trusts mem hers will understand if they have to wait for a reply, a little longer than he would want. He stressed that he acted for every member as a group, not just for the Exec Cmte and his loyalty was to them all, in the same way that each member is loyal to each other. He thanked everyone and looked forward to helping the Association during the coming year.

7. Motion. Proposed by Derek Heaps and Seconded by Tom Birch. This was a resolution that Sheila Gray deliver a written report setting out full, implicit details of the research account. After a debate, during which the Solicitor pointed out, that preparation of such a report would prove costly to the Association as it would have to be done through the University and only if they agreed and that the Police Fraud Squad had already proved there was no wrong doing. He then read out a letter, dated 12 March 1997, which Mr McGinley had sent to the Bank stating that Sheila and Sue Roff were authorised to open a separate bank account, for the research fund and that they were to be the co-signees. A vote was taken and the motion was defeated. Tom l(jtching, Branch Rep for Humberside, stood up and said that everyone should remember, that if Sheila Gray had not been successful in obtaining the research money, there would not have been any research to argue about!

An Interval was then taken, during which, a raffle was held on behalf of Association fund.

8. Archie Ross, the ex-Representative of the disbanded West Midlands Branch, had asked if he could speak because he wished to apologise for his abrasive letters and attitude towards the Exec Cmte - the Cmte gave him the floor. He explained that there had been a meeting that morning to discuss his expulsion from the Association but after he had apologised to the Exec Cmte, for his abrasive letters and attitude, his expulsion had been withdrawn. He now apologised to the Association for his past behaviour.

9. Amendments to the Constitution. All amendments were accepted (except for the amendment to I0c, which failed to obtain the required two third majority) with minor adjustments to some of the wording.

10. Raffle. The raffle was drawn and raised £200. At this point, Shirley Denson stood up and took charge of the microphone and announced to the Meeting, that she hoped Sheila would state that the sum raised by the raffle WAS going to Association funds and NOT to research. There was a howl of disgust from the members.

11. Election of New Exec Cmte. The members were informed that nominations, other than the ones for the present Exec Cmte, had been sent, in a block, to the Secretary and the Association Solicitor, by Archie Ross' Solicitor. The person who had been nominated, by the same group, for Secretary, was not a member and therefore could not stand.

Chairman Peter Fletcher MBE - 112 votes Ken McGinley - 28 votes - Peter elected Vice-Chairman John Lowe - 114 votes Mike Reid - 28 votes - John elected - Sheila elected Secretary Sheila Gray - unopposed Treasurer Ken Roberts Patrick Bosson The votes for Ken Roberts, were so overwhelming, a count was not necessary. - Ken elected Members to the Cmte - only three were needed and as there were five candidates standing, only the three with the highest number of votes were elected to the Cmte.

Derick Redfern - 111 votes Mike Doyle - 107 votes Derek Heaps - 84 votes - Derick, Mike, Derek elected.

Marylin Hall - 28 votes Shirley Denson - 21 votes

...

-312. Any Other Business. Because the previous business had taken up so much time there were only a few minutes left before the Meeting had to close and members leave the room. Sheila informed the Meeting that she had written to the Prime Minister, objecting to the rumours in the newspapers, that Dr Lewis Moonie of the MOD, was going to be appointed to be Minister for Veterans. She said she had received a reply stating the letter had been passed to the Cabinet Office so they would know of our objections. In her letter to the PM, she had stated that we could have no trust in a Minister who, for a number of years, had openly been antagonistic to the veterans. Also, that a Minister or even an MP could not have an unbiased view, they would be torn between the veteran and their particular Party. She had also said that a 'Minister for Veterans' should be outside politics and so have 'no axe to grind'.

Sheila also reported that the New Zealand Government was now setting up a programme to help their veterans families who had a child suffering from spina bifida. Again this result has come about from the Research Programme, held on our behalf, at Dundee University. We are still hoping that our Government will examine our children.

The motion that had been placed by the Humberside Branch and printed in our last Newsletter - "The National Executive should look into the possibility of establishing formal links with the British Gulf War Veterans Association for the mutual benefit of both organisations which have much in common" Sheila informed the Branch that attempts had been made, a number of times, to form a rapport with the GWV but each attempt had been rebuffed. We were informed, each time, that they wished to remain unattached.

13. Chairman's Round-Up. Peter thanked everyone for attending and hoped they had found the Meeting constructive. He said that this Cmte will continue to work hard on our behalf for pensions and recognition.

He gave a special thanks to everyone who had assisted in the running of tbe Meeting and to Ian for all that he has done for us since joining up with us last year.

He reminded everyone of the evening Social and the Church Parade the following morning.

The Meeting closed at 17.30 hours.

The Social took place in the Horseshoe Showbar at 8pm and was a great success and was attended by approx 200 people. A Raffle was held which raised a further £302.40 for Association funds.

Church Parade - Sunday 29 April. Once again there was a good turn out and we were made most welcome at the Citadel. After the Service the dry weather enabled us to march into the town accompanied by the Salvation Army Band - as soon as the March was over, the rain came pouring down so we counted ourselves lucky. We dispersed at 12.30 to make our way home.

The above Minutes are an abridged version and a full copy can be obtained from Sheila Gray by sending her a stamped addressed envelope.

SECRETAAY'SREPORT The months of May and June have been very busy, not only dealing with the many letters and queries from the members who, we-are pleased to say, were very happy with the outcome of the AGM but also dealing_ with the Press.

Documents that have been released in Australia, have brought some horrendous revelations to light about what the UK Government engineered and in one case, planned to engineer, during the Atomic Weapons Test Programme in the 1950s. Some we had heard about but did not have prnof and others were 'mind boggling'!

1. Men were forced to roll around in the contaminated dust to see the effect on the UNIFORMS! 2. Men were denied blood tests prior to attending a test,in case it woq_ld give them cause for redress afterwards!

3. The UK Government 'mislead' the Australian Royal Commission 4. The UK Government 'mislead' the European Courts of Human Right 5. Physically and mentally disabled people were flown to Australia to be used in the testing of radiation we have discovered,the pilot who took them out but there is 110 record (as yet)J>f them being brought home! The world has railed about the Holocaust and the treatment meted out to the Japanese POWs but those dastardly deeds were done to the supposed enemy - our G<wernment conducted even greater atrocities to its own people!

6. Babies, both stillborn and those that died at an early age, were used in the Atomic Test Trials. There is a terrifying possibifity that some of our babies could have been included. So many of us -Lost babies in the late '50s and early '60s therefore, were our babies, not only denied life because of their father's involvement in the Test, were they al$o experimented upon aft.erwar:ds?

All of the above, has been brought to the attention of the Prime Minister, in our letter to him. A copy of that a letter has also gone out to the Heads of the other Political Parties and the Press - let Mr Blair ignore these proven accusations if he dare!

Op Lighthouse! I doubt if any of you will have heard of it because it was a 'well hidden' secret - until now!

This opera_tion was piano� to take place in the late_ 1950s and involved digging trenches about 300 yards from a bomb burst, filling them with troops, to see the effect of the radiation on TRENCHES! It was not morals that stopped this taking place but a hasty, temporary moratorium between the US, Russia and the UK, to cease testing.

There is also evidence co_ming to light that depleted uranium was used during the Tests - this is being i11--Vestig_ated.

Sheila Gray - Secretary

RESEARCH PROGRAMME Although we are still gathering evidence, we have had a stumbling block laid in our way - £300,000! This y; the amount required to begin the Blood and Saliva Tests, to be held at Dundee and St Andrew's Universities. The team of specialists is ready - the facilities are all in place but without funds we cannot move forward, as yet. We are keeping up the pressure on the Government for this money, even pointin,.g out that they spend more than that amount upon refurbishing one of their otlices! If anyone knows a millionaire who will part with some of his millions, we'd like to know about him!

As for the further study, being conducted by the NRPB, tbat is l!lmost .at an end and would be over if Sue Roff and myself did not keep arguing (in a friendly manner of course) various points that we are not happy with.

Sue is away from home until the end of July and I am away from 18 July until 4 August. Upon our return we hope to finalise matters.

Sheila Gray - Secretary

EXECCMTE We are pleased to say that the previous Exec Cmte was voted back in at the AGM, however we have tq admit to a mistake that was made. MARTIN BLACKBURN, who had served on the Cmte for the year 2000/2001 and had done a worthwhile job, because he is a child of a veteran, we were under the impression that he could not be.'voted-0nto the Cmte' but had to be'seconded'. We were wrong and :we have given him our deepest apology, his name could have been put forward, he had the necessary sponsorship and seconder, for re-election. Sadly this mistake cannot be put right until the next elections but we have give,n him the position of'Non-Executive Children's Representative'. This way he can continue to be the voice of our children. If any of our 'children' would like to contact him, his details are: 154 ASTLEY STREET, TYLDESLEY, MANCHESTER M29 7.,-\X - TEL: 01942 887566. It is hoped ,that he will put.his name forward for election at the AGM 20()2.

TREASURER'S REPORT I am pleased to report that our accounts a_re in better shape than they have been for many a year and this could not have come about without the support of you, our members. However, I had noticed that it was only a quarter of the membership who were the regular payers and we decided it was not right that 'the few' should be subsidising 'the rest'. It was time to take some action. Therefore, I sent out a tetter to all non-paying members, since I took up Office in April 2000, reminding them of their lack of financial support. They were informed that, without the,express permission of the Exec Cmte, should they not pay their fees, their name would be removed from our mailing list. They would still be members but non­ payment of fees would take away their right to mail and their right to vote. I have to say th.e response is very encouraging, members understood and have responded well. You will have reasf in the Minutes of the AGM that we now have a healthy bank balance and since my letter to the 'non-payers', it has improved even further, let us .hope it stays that way. We must have funds if we wanUo press our case forward.

Ken ROBERTS - Treasurer NEWSLETJ:E__R.

Further to the Treasure's R�port - this will be the last Newsletter that non-payers of their annu_a-1 subscription, will be receiving. The members that pay regularly, justifiably feel, that it is unjust that they should 'carry' the non-payers. However, this does NOT apply to those m.embers who have been given fr� membership over the last two years, they will be sent their copy as normal. If you were allowed fqie membership, prior to this present Exec Cmte being in Office, unfortunately, we do not have ttwse records they are still in the hands of the Ex-Chairman and Ex-Treasurer - therefore, please apply again either to the Treasurer or the Secretary.

ROYAL BRITISH LEGION - LLANDUDNO There is to be a Church Service and Parade on 19 August 2001, in conjunction with both the North Wales District and the Countr Field Office, to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the RBL. The Church Service will begin at 1.00PM at the Holy Trinity Church, Trinity Square, Llandudno followed by a Parade to the Llandudno Cenotaph where, after some prayers, wreaths will be laid by ex-Servicemen and women. Our Branch Rep in S Wales, PETER 'fILLIAMS, with the help and support.of PETER BULLEN - ex-Branch Rep for N Wales - are organising qur participation in the event. It would be good to see some our members taking part and further details cari be obtained from both Peter Williams Tel: 01558 822141 and Peter Bullen Tel: 01248 352708

NRPB As you are all aware, the NRPB have been conducting further studies on us. The hope that Sue Roff and I held at the outset of the new study, was that it would be a radiobiological study and not a continuation of the previous two studies. However, our previous representative had agreed with the NRPB that a blind study would be enough.

The blind study coIJt!sted of the NRPB continuing to deal with their figures and Sue to deal with hers bu1�e1ther parties comparing notes until the agreed date. Therefore we have had to make the best of things and Sue and I have worked closely with the NRPB to see that the best results, from what we feel is a disappointing study, are achieved.

The present study was intended to look at all deaths but with an emphasis on multiple myeloma. As I have already stated this should have been completed some weeks ago but Sue and myself are _still not happy with what is proposed for the fina,1 result. We have been asked to check the findings (which we have promised to keep confidential until they are published) of the NRPB and if we are satisfied, then give our permission to have our names added as 'co-authors'. We are still not satisfied and are continuing to ask question wh�ch is delaying matters but we feel that it is our duty to see that.a more accurate result is obtained before we sign anything. So please bear with us for the time being.

Sheila GRAY ILLNESSES A number of members are asking the same question - what illness wjJI gain them_,a pension? The answer is, other than certain types of leukaemia, there is no sure way of knowing!

Just because a veteran has been awarded a pension for a certain illness, is no guarantee that another veteran, suffering the same illness,. will be automatically be given one too!

In fact, even two veterans, serving side by side at the same test and suffering the same illness, does not count in the eyes of War Pension�. Eacil case is looked at indiv:idually and tried on its own merits.

What you_ must do, no matter what yotlr illness,. is put in a.claim! If you don.'t bear_ back from the WPA within a decent interval, you badger them until you do get a reply!

If, when yon ar� told y.ou do not qualify, then yo11 put in an appeal ;md you do it straight away!

New widows must immediately apply for .a War Widows Peng_ion as there is a time limit set for placing a claim. All that is required is for you to write to War Pensions Agency,,,, Norcross, Blackpool, stating tba(your h11sband has died and give his Service (RAF/Navy/Army) and bis Service Number. That is all that is required to begin with because you will be sent forms to complete. When these arrive, should you need help, ask and we will do what we can to give it you.