Britain’s Nuclear Bomb Scandal: Our Story, review: this deserves as much attention as the Post Office scandal
Between 1952 and 1963, the British government carried out a series of nuclear tests in Australia and the South Pacific. British servicemen were used as lab rats. Thousands of them were exposed to radioactive fallout, their only protection being shorts and a shirt, plus the instruction to sit with their backs to the sea and close their eyes.
In Britain’s Nuclear Bomb Scandal: Our Story (BBC Two), veterans recalled the moment of the blast. “The flash was so bright, I could see through my hands.” “It was as if I was being microwaved. You felt you were just going to explode.” Another man followed orders to fly into the mushroom cloud. “One’s natural instinct,” he said with understatement, “is to go in the opposite direction, not towards it.”
The government’s use of so many personnel as human guinea pigs was shameful. Briefed by scientists in 1955 that exposure could damage troops’ DNA, Prime Minister Anthony Eden replied: “It’s a pity, but we can’t help it.” The tests also harmed the local populations. At Woomera cemetery in Maralinga, local journalist Colin James counted the graves of 22 stillborn babies, 34 for others who had died before their first birthday, and 12 toddlers. Officially, they died as a result of heatwaves.
The second part of this scandal is the MoD’s refusal to apologise or pay compensation, despite evidence that exposure led to cancer, rare medical problems and genetic mutations, not just for the men who witnessed the blasts but for their families, with distressing stories of infant deaths and disabilities. Investigative journalist Susie Boniface has amassed documents over 20 years that she claims show the Government’s culpability and deliberate withholding of blood tests taken at the time.
Sadly, I don’t think this will become the new Post Office scandal, with the nation galvanised and the Government forced into action. I hope I’m wrong. But the crucial thing about Mr Bates vs The Post Office was that it was a drama, expertly crafted to draw us into the story in a way that real life often cannot.
The MoD rejects studies that show a link between the veterans’ ill health and the atomic programme. Then again, in a statement at the end, it also said: “The protection, health and welfare of those involved in the atmospheric tests was a vital consideration,” which seems a pretty hollow claim.
Britain’s Nuclear Bomb Scandal: Our Story is available now on BBC iPlayer and airs on BBC Two on Wednesday 20 November at 9pm