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BULLETIN OF NUCLEAR VETERANS AND CHILDREN ISSUE 13

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PAGE 2 FISSIONLINE

A GENETIC PLAGUE By Alan Rimmer

“How are your children?” It was the sort of question journalists ask to keep a con-versation going, but the result was dra-matic. The woman washing dishes at the sink started forward as though shoved hard in the back. A dripping plate crashed to the floor. After a long pause Mrs Sheila Collins told me a dark story about her daughter Jayne who had been born dread-fully deformed in a Royal Navy hospital in Portsmouth just a few years after her daddy Jeff returned from duty at the Pa-cific proving grounds for Britain’s A-bomb testing programme. The doctors were very interested in this little girl and put her through a series of rigorous medi-cal tests while other medics examined the backgrounds of her parents. The couple only realised why when they happened to get hold of their daughter’s medical notes and discovered little Jayne wasn’t the only child born to an atomic veteran with de-formities and other inexplicable illnesses. In fact there appeared to be dozens of cases recorded in the copious footnotes in little Jayne’s medical files. They con-fronted the doctors, but were brushed aside and told it was all routine. The cou-ple were convinced there was a cover- up going on, and their conviction grew when they heard of cases of deformed children being born to American nuclear veterans. Now they had decided to tell their story, and as fate would have it I was the re-porter assigned to interview them. It was a sensational story and as I delved deeper into the backgrounds of the nuclear veter-ans it soon became clear there was a new plague, a genetic curse stalking mankind; an atomic pandemic passed on through the genes of thousands of servicemen exposed to radiation during nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s. The story that eventu-ally appeared rocked the Ministry of De-fence and the Thatcher government who were already desperately fending off alle-gations that Britain’s atomic servicemen had been used as guinea pigs to discover the effects of nuclear bombs on men with and without protective clothing.

Continued on pg.3

PAGE 3 BULLETIN OF NUCLEAR VETERANS AND CHILDREN

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TO THE END OF TIME

From pg.2

As the scandal unfolded on both sides of the Atlantic, the US government decided to act. It acknowledged the fact that nu-clear servicemen could have been injured by low level radiation and awarded them a generous compensation and medical needs package. It was a shrewd move for it took the sting out of the emerging problems with their offspring. In Britain the veter-ans waited for the government to follow suit. It was a forlorn hope. With its long and ignoble history of treating servicemen like second-class citizens, the State decided to tough it out. In a classic delaying tactic it announced a three-yr epidemiological study into the cancer and death rates among the nuclear servicemen. Shamefully it refused to acknowledge the suffering of the children and even went to the extent of criticising me personally in parliament, accusing me of “causing unnecessary suf-fering” to families of nuclear veterans. The veterans dug in for a long campaign. After three years the government’s survey was completed and it revealed elevated leukae-mia levels among atomic servicemen com-pared to others who were not at the tests. That should have been enough. But in-stead of apologising and paying up, the government commissioned yet more stud-ies. More years rolled by and the new surveys showed there was no difference in mortality rates among nuclear servicemen compared with others. This dubious statis-tical exercise gave the government the ammunition it needed to once again fend off the veterans. The campaign, not sur-prisingly, ran out of steam as it went into its second decade. The press went quiet; the public lost interest. In 2002 I returned to the “Atom Bomb Kids” to see how they were faring. I found the deadly plague had moved on to the grandchildren. There was more outrage, but the government was stony-hearted. And so the fight to reveal the truth about one of the greatest scandals of the last century continues. fissionline, Motto: Justice Not Charity, ex-ists to give a voice to the nuclear veterans and their families until the British govern-ment finally does the right thing and gives them the justice they so richly deserve.

fissionline 13

By Roy Sefton QSM

Chair NZNTVA

I read with interest Hansard's recording of the debate in the UK Parliament of 29th October 2013. 'Minister of Veterans', Anna Soubry, with regard to pension provisions for Nuclear test veterans in the UK, stated, "I do not believe that our (war pension) record is shameful". I would like to draw her attention to the New Zealand War Pension system that covers RNZN veterans who stood shoulder to shoulder alongside their UK counterparts at Operation Grapple. Veterans Affairs New Zealand (VANZ) has devised a 'Presumptive list' of about 20+ can-cers. If a veteran suffers from one of the listed cancers he makes a claim for a War Disability Pension. (The widow of a deceased veteran may apply for a 'Surviving Spouses Pension' under the same scheme). Such claims are not subjected to investigation but are automatically accepted as due to service. This system speeds up the pension payment to the claimant, and also reduces the number of War Pension Claims for other non- cancerous conditions that build up awaiting consideration by the War Pension Panel. A small number of health conditions related to veterans children is also processed in the same manner. Other benefits such as having Operation Grapple classified as "War and Emergency Service", which subjects related claims to a sys-tem which incorporates "If the Claims Panel cannot determine that the claimants ill health is due entirely to factors unrelated to service, then the claimant must get the benefit of the doubt". Even a medal, "The Special Services Medal (Nuclear)" was created and approved by HM the Queen for New Zealand's Nuclear Test Vet-erans. These and other benefits are entirely due to the efforts of the New Zealand Nuclear Test Veterans Asso-ciation's continual pressure on the NZ Government to progress benefits available to our nuclear test veterans and their families. Minister Soubry, you, like Ministers before you are ill-advised.

The UK's treatment of their nuclear test veterans is the worst in the western world and is indeed a disgrace.

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suffering because their father’s took part in the A-bomb tests. Her warm-hearted, chatty website has been a source of con-stant comfort and understanding to many lonely and bewildered victims. Shelley is now busy whipping up support for her cause and I wish her every suc-cess. Shelley, you are a hero!

Hacked

Off

A funny thing happened when I sat down to my computer the other night. A message popped up from my service provider about a cyber attack on fis-sionline! “Someone has recently used your password to try to sign into your Google account,” went the message, and went on to describe the device used to attempt access. Thankfully the Google guardians prevented the sign-in attempt

This old heart of mine wept on reading a letter sent to Shelly Grigg, the courageous daughter of a Christmas Island veteran. The writer was another “Atom Bomb Kid” and she explained to Shelley that she couldn’t attend a planned march at the end of the month because the government turned down her request for disability benefit even though part of her left leg is missing. It meant she was left with just Jobseekers allowance of about £70 a week and could-n’t afford to make the trip. Undeterred Shelley has broadcast her plight on her fan-tastic Fallout website and offers of help are already pouring in. I have known Shelley for a number of years and have always ad-mired her indomitable courage and deter-mination. She suffers from Dercum’s dis-ease, a rare genetic condition often causing extreme fatigue and anxiety. Despite this she holds down a job in a call centre and always finds time to give a helping hand to scores of young people like herself who are

but advised the password be reset as a matter of urgency. Investigations are now being carried out to identify the source of the hijacker. It was a curious incident and slightly unnerving. But it is nowhere near as alarming as the vicious personal attack that came to light this week on the editor of this newspaper. The attack, containing the most mendacious smears was made publicly against Alan Rimmer on behalf of a number of individuals whose mo-tives can only be guessed. The smears are wholly untrue and are now being exam-ined by lawyers. We have been advised not to go into detail at this stage, but suffice it to say that personal attacks are usually the last refuge for those who have utterly and completely lost the argument.

fissionline: The authentic voice of Nuclear Veterans and Children. Get it free by contacting fissionline@gmail.com

Shelley’s Heroes Set to March on Parliament

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