Bulletin of Nuclear Veterans and Children

WE WILL FIGHT, FIGHT AND FIGHT AGAIN FOR THOSE WHOSE VALOUR IS WRITTEN IN THEIR BLOOD

ISSUE TWO: APRIL 2013

fissionline

areas of Christmas Island and

exposed thousands of ser-

vicemen to ‘rainout’, which

can enter the bloodstream

and cause cancers and other

illnesses in later life. See pg 2.

Nailing the lies: The

Christmas Island Codex,

the second in the ‘Between

Heaven and Hell’ trilogy.

Britain exploded 21 nuclear

bombs into the atmosphere

between 1952-1958. Thou-

sands of servicemen wit-

nessed each test and many,

many suffered as a result. But

it has been hard to prove a

connection between their ill

health and the bomb

tests...until now. By homing

in on one particular bomb

test, Grapple Y, researchers

have been able to identify a

clear connection between the

bomb and deaths and dis-

eases in those who witnessed

it. This has been made possi-

ble by the discovery of a

unique archive of material

detailing the experiences of

more than 3,000 nuclear vet-

erans. Every detail of the

men’s lives are recorded; the

bomb tests they witnessed,

the sicknesses they suffered

and the terrible fate of their

children and grandchildren.

These flesh and blood ac-

counts, meticulously com-

piled by Ken McGinley,

founder of the British Nu-

clear Tests Veterans’ Associa-

tion over a 20-yr period, have

been underpinned by new

scientific and medical evi-

dence which finally nails the

lies and deceit as practiced by

successive governments. This

body of proof , known as

The Christmas Island Codex is

due to be published later this

year. Fssionline can today

reveal just one small compo-

nent of this truly shocking

document. The new material-

shows how the Ministry of

Defence repeatedly covered-

up evidence of a huge thun-

derstorm after Grapple Y

which contaminated large

THE TRUTH THEY TRIED TO HIDE

Hands Across The Nuclear Divide

Japan stands at a cross-

roads over its reliance

on nuclear power as

the country marks the

second anniversary of

one of the world's

worst atomic disasters.

On March 11, 2011, a

massive earthquake

triggered a devastating

tsunami that struck

Japan's northeast

coast, killing more

than 20,000 and leav-

ing at least 150,000

homeless. Nuclear

Veterans Ken

McGinley and Archie

Ross met some of the

survivors in Manches-

ter Town Hall last

month.

A small

sample

of the

mass

of mate-

rial gath-

ered over a

20-yr period to produce the Christmas

Island Codex.

________________________

On Sale: Between Heaven and

Hell, by Alan Rimmer. £9.99 +

p&p.

Fission Chips

MoD LIES EXPOSED 2

MARY AND BILLIE 2

STUART’S STORY 2

MISS ATOMIC BOMB 3

DAD’S ARMY ON THE MARCH

3

ATOMIC AL SPEAKS 4

Fissionline contact 4

PAGE 2 FISSIONLINE

Caption de-

scribing pic-

ture or

graphic.

MET CHARTS EXPOSE THE LIES

nowhere for a year. In recent

years many attempts have been

made to track the ladies down,

but to no avail. Little is known

of their backgrounds, although

it is rumoured they later settled

in Australia. One squaddie re-

calls: “They weren’t bothered

by the bombs, they took all that

in their stride. They were mar-

velous with everyone and were

a real tonic to have around. The

only thing that bothered them

The only British women allowed

on Christmas Island during the

H-bomb tests were a couple of

WVS ladies, the Misses Billie

and Mary Burgess.

They were said to be a couple of

“tough old birds” who knew

how to handle themselves. They

oversaw much of the catering

arrangements and acted as

nurse, matron and surrogate

mum to many a lonely service-

man stranded in the middle of

was the frequency which their

underwear disappeared from

the washing line!

Mary and

Billie Bur-

gess arrive

on Christ-

mas Island

where 3,722

men

awaited!

notes also proved it rained over the

Port Camp area where thousands of

men were mustered. The MoD has

always denied that it rained after the

blast and kept weather reports a

closely-guarded secret. What terrified

them more than anything was the

Met Office belief that the rainfall was

“caused by the bomb.” This resulted

in ‘rainout’, a particularly pernicious

form of fallout. Thousands of men

were contaminated. The resulting

illnesses were recorded in the

“Codex” long before Grapple Y was

identified as a rogue bomb.

Dozens of

official Met

Office Charts,

prove that it

rained after the

Grapple Y

blast of April

28, 1958. The

blizzard of

data and mar-

ginal notes

clearly show

how it rained over a wide area of

Christmas Island following the blast

which occurred at 1905 GMT. The

ENVIRONMENT

RECORDS SHOW

THERE WAS “NO

RAINFALL“

AFTER GRAPPLE

Y

DEFENCE

MINISTER DR

LEWIS MOONEY.

Does anyone know what happened to Mary and Billie?

Inside Story Headline

PAGE 3 ISSUE TWO: APRIL 2013

Club in Croxton, near Thetford in

Norfolk last month. Thetford is the

spiritual home of Walmington-on-

Sea where the TV series was shot

and the spirit of defiance epitomized

by Mainwaring and his band of

Home Guard warriors was burning

as brightly as ever. Thetford’s very

own Capt. Mainwaring, Anglia

branch chairman Derek Chappell

introduced guest speaker statistician

John Urquhart who explained about

The spirit of

Capt Main-

waring of Dad’s Army fame hung

over a lively meeting of nuclear vet-

erans at the Royal Naval Association

Dad’s

Army: the

spirit of

Thetford.

the Christmas Island Codex and how

the new evidence would eventually

force the government to take the

claims of the nuclear veterans seri-

ously. The 50-60 veterans who at-

tended the meeting on a freezing

March afternoon welcomed the new

initiative. One stalwart commented:

“We should take the fight to the

MoD. They don’t like it up ‘em!”

THETFORD: “THEY DON’T LIKE IT UP ‘EM…”

under the scheme in November 2002. On receipt of the certificate of diagnosis from his consultant it was apparent that he did not have a disease considered by current scientific evidence to be related to exposure to ionising radiations and thus the claim was not considered eligible for assessment.

Stuart’s case has now been taken up by local pressure group Cumbrian’s Opposed to a Radioactive Environment (C.O.R.E). Spokeswoman Janine Allis-Smith said: “Like nuclear veterans everywhere Stuart finds it impossible to prove that his illness has been caused by radiation. Yet he worked on one of Sellafield’s most danger-ous sites. B30 has been closed off because it is so radioactive. But still they won’t listen.

“TO CATCH THE READER'S ATTENTION,

PLACE AN INTERESTING SENTENCE OR

QUOTE FROM THE STORY HERE.”

Stuart Armstrong, of Whitehaven, has waged a lonely battle against Sellafield for more than 10 years. He is still recovering from a double dose of brain surgery on a blood vessel aneurysm which he blames on radiation exposure.

He worked on the site for four years from 1989. There were 16 men on his shift yet five died young. He worked on a site called B30 nicknamed Dirty Thirty because of the high radiation levels. His job was to clear debris from the highly radioactive cooling ponds. It is now a no-go area for workers. Stuart has not qualified for any help from the nuclear industry compensation scheme, because the scheme only pays out for those struck down by cancers. A spokesman for the site said: “Mr Armstrong made a claim

STUART’S FIGHT AGAINST “DIRTY THIRTY” LEGACY

Winter 1957-1958...and Britain shiv-

ered in one of the coldest winters for

decades (a bit like today). The newly-

formed Campaign for Nuclear Disar-

mament donned their woolly caps,

gloves and scarves ready for the great

Easter Marches to protest outside

Aldermaston, Britain’s nuclear bomb

factory in Berkshire. They stood

shivering at the gates of the top-

secret establishment as speaker after

speaker denounced nuclear bombs

and atmospheric testing. There was a

real sense of impending apocalyptic

doom at the time and thousands of

people from all over the country

turned out to voice their protest.

Meanwhile over in Las Vegas a dif-

ferent atmosphere prevailed. Copa

Room showgirl Lee Merlin posed in

a cotton mushroom cloud swimsuit

as she was crowned Miss Atomic

Bomb in this 1957 photograph.

Above-ground nuclear testing was a

major public attraction during the

late 1950s, and hotels capitalized on

the craze by hosting nuclear bomb

watch parties, which usually included

the dubbing of a chorus girl as Miss

Atomic Bomb. Merlin was the last

and most famous of the Miss Atomic

Bomb girls.

Caption de-

scribing pic-

ture or

graphic.

HOW VEGAS SEXED-UP THE BOMB

Join Fissionline...the

authentic voice of

nuclear veterans

everywhere.

Contact:

fissionline@gmail.com

WELCOME TO THE WORLD!

We’ve had bites on our fis-

sionline from all over the

world.

Radiation victims from Ja-

pan, the USA, France, Ger-

many, New Zealand, Aus-

tralia, Canada and even

China have expressed an

interest in joining us.

Janine Allis-Smith of

C.O.R.E in Cumbria writes:

“This is most exciting.

More please!”

fissionline

Bulletin of Nuclear Veterans and Children

Postal address:

22 Winchester Road, Manchester M41 0UJ

MEMBERSHIP FREE

nuclear veterans to be allowed to

wear this proud symbol of solidarity

and fellowship. How this move came

about is unclear, but I’d like to tell

those who advocate this mean-

spirited idea a few facts:-

The badge was the brain-child of

Royal Navy cook Tom Birch, now

sadly deceased. He saw service on

Christmas Island and was there for

the “big one”, Grapple Y. He per-

sonally applied to the Royal College

of Arms for permission to include

the Crown on the badge which he

helped design. From his own pocket

he paid a fee of £500 for the privilege

and refused to accept any donations

toward the cost. Tom was a fine man

who considered all nuclear veteran as

Word reaches me of a

dastardly plan to pre-

vent British nuclear veterans from

wearing the badge, topped by the

Imperial Crown, which they have so

proudly

worn since

they first

got to-

gether

back in

1983. It

seems

there are

some who

would like

only a

chosen few

representa-

tives of the

Badge of Honour:

Tom Birch’s Legacy.

equals. Tom died of cancer 11 years

ago, after a long and courageous bat-

tle. His widow Mary tells me: “Tom

was a deeply patriotic man and he

had that badge made for all the veter-

ans. He wanted them to be treated

with the same respect as all the other

men and women who saw service for

their country. He would have been

appalled at the idea people trying to

stop them wearing the badge.”

_____________________________

In this Holy Week, I pray that

politicians everywhere will exam-

ine their consciences and do

something to right the historic

wrong done to untold numbers of

nuclear veterans and their chil-

dren who have suffered on the

altar of nuclear expediency.

Says: Wear Your Badge With Pride !