Nuke heroes sue UK government for 'bloody truth' over missing medical records
![Nuclear veterans today unleash a legal war on the British government (Image: Humphrey Nemar/daily mirror)](/upload/news/2023/09/20/101403.jpg)
Nuclear veterans today unleash a legal war on the British government, saying: "Give us the bloody truth."
They will sue the Ministry of Defence for blood records taken during atomic weapons tests and which have been hidden ever since. The result is seven decades of anguish as veteran families suffer high rates of cancer, miscarriage and birth defects, without explanation or cure.
The Mirror has uncovered 150 documents, covering half a century, about blood testing of UK and Commonwealth servicemen, civilians and indigenous people. Just last week, a minister told Parliament the MoD held no blood records.
Veteran John Morris, 86, said: “I’ll fight for justice until I die. They need to give us the bloody truth.” Survivors and families of servicemen used in the nuclear testing programme are being joined by Australian veterans and Aboriginal Peoples to demand the Ministry of Defence release blood tests it took from them during Cold War radiation experiments.
The Mirror, which first revealed the nuked blood scandal in November last year, has uncovered proof of hundreds of documents about blood tests that are withheld at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, an agency of the MoD.
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Last week defence minister Andrew Murrison, asked to explain why veterans' medical files were missing, told the House of Commons: “We of course do everything we can to locate records when people request them, and... we could find none on this occasion.” A day later we uncovered a cache of 150 documents discussing blood counts at a dozen different tests, including comparisons of results, the benefits of sending “live” servicemen into the blast zone, and “medical examinations of natives” up to 1,000 miles away.
You can donate to help the Nuclear Test Veterans' search for justice by clicking this link.
Karina Lester's late father Yami was blinded as a boy by a 'black mist' that swept across the landscape and poisoned waterholes after a 1953 blast codenamed Operation Totem. A mum of four who recently returned to live on her family's traditional lands, she said: "We have so many questions, there is so much unknown - is the land safe? Is our food safe? Is our drinking water safe? So little is known through our generations. We still suffer to this day. I am really worried about it."
The titles of the documents include references to “blood test data”, “a major blood testing task”, “special medical examinations”, a medical officer’s journal, “requirement for blood counts”, the “distribution of plutonium in human blood serum”, “decontamination and blood counts”, and “blood changes at low dose levels”. They start in 1952 and the most recent are a series of faxes sent about the test veterans’ blood tests in 2002, the same year that the Mirror relaunched its recognition campaign. The AWE said: “We would like to highlight that some of the document titles may be ambiguous as to their content.”
Of the 150 documents, only 3 are available in the National Archives. Another 10 are closed for an indefinite period, and the remaining 137 have no archive reference numbers. It is possible to withhold them from the archives under the Public Records Act, but it requires a Cabinet minister's approval and is subject to a 10-year review.
Campaigner Alan Owen, who has been denied access to his father’s medical records from the period he witnessed 24 H-bombs in 78 days, said: “The veterans have always known they were human guinea pigs, and nobody but the Mirror believed them. We now have the proof, and the lawyers to back it up. The survivors are in their 80s and this is their last chance at wringing the truth out of the MoD. Their descendants carry the genetic legacy of the tests, and it’s time to pay up.”
A £100,000 crowdfunder has been set up to kickstart the legal fight, and the Mirror has contributed the first £20,000. We have also partnered with the BBC and Adelaide Advertiser, which first broke the scandal when Yami Lester came forward in 1980, to maximise public awareness.
![Nuke heroes sue UK government for 'bloody truth' over missing medical records](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article29199134.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_JS282888694.jpg)
Law firm McCue Jury & Partners is appealing for anyone involved in the testing to come forward and join the claim. Managing partner Jason McCue said: “The nuclear veterans have kept us safe for 70 years, but in return they have been gaslighted by the British state. Successive governments have denied them the truth and peace of mind. “They were treated like spent ammunition - discarded and disdained by those who had a legal and moral duty of care. They and their families have suffered decades of immeasurable grief, harm, and fear, and if their civilian doctors had been given proper access to their military records, there might be many more of them alive today.”
A MoD spokesman said: "No information is withheld from veterans and any medical records taken either before, during or after participation in the UK nuclear weapon tests are held in individual military medical records in the Government's archives, which can be accessed on request."
The Mirror's investigation over the past year has established that next of kin with a legal right to access health records are routinely denied them, and that those veterans who do make requests find files are missing from their time at the tests. MoD denials have been repeatedly disproven by the results of FOI requests.
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The Mirror has asked the Prime Minister and two Defence Secretaries to meet the campaigners and see their evidence of crimes at the heart of government. Our requests have been ignored. To join the claim, email [email protected]
Meet the nuclear veterans and families
![Nuke heroes sue UK government for 'bloody truth' over missing medical records](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article28081366.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_Screenshot-2022-09-26-at-102013.png)
JOHN MORRIS, 86, of Rochdale: Witnessed three atom bombs and an H-bomb while working in the laundry at Christmas Island in 1957. Had blood tested throughout. Son Stephen died aged four months. Developed pernicious anaemia aged 26, but refused a war pension for lack of evidence. He said: “I’ve lost a child, I’ve had cancer, and I’ve had a blood disorder since I was 26 years old. All the MoD has given us in return for securing the nuclear deterrent is a bunch of lies. We just want the bloody truth, and we will fight for that to the bitter end.”
![Nuke heroes sue UK government for 'bloody truth' over missing medical records](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article24424998.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_DDN_Nuclear_Test_Families_07.jpg)
STEVE PURSE, 49, of Prestatyn: Dad David was in charge of the airfield at Maralinga in 1963 during a series of toxic plutonium experiments. Steve was born a decade later with stunted limbs, curved spine, and one leg was bent 45 degrees the wrong way. He cannot straighten his arms, needs crutches or a wheelchair, has underdeveloped lungs and as a child suffered from fluid on the brain. He said: “Dad told me the safety measures were a wire fence. They were exploding and burning plutonium to see where it blew, and it blew straight past the wire and into the food. My whole family has spent 60 years being terrified - of every pregnancy, every sniffle, every trip to the doctor. If the MoD has nothing to hide, it can give us the answers we’re seeking.”
![Nuke heroes sue UK government for 'bloody truth' over missing medical records](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article30451501.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_TM230614Atomic1.jpg)
JOHN FOLKES, 86, of Broadstairs: John was 19 when he was ordered into the ‘rumble seat’ of a sniff plane sent to sample the mushroom clouds. He was later sent into the crater. He has prostate cancer and was recently diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the memories. A 14 month period is missing from his military medical records.“I had blood tests taken before, during and after every bomb,” he said. “I want to join the case because this stuff has to come out. It upsets me to think about it, but it’s better in the open.”
![Nuke heroes sue UK government for 'bloody truth' over missing medical records](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article28819664.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_Phil-HarrisDaily-Mirror-Sunday-Mirror-ExpressStar-Sunday-Express-Star-on-Sundayund.jpg)
LAURA JACKSON, 57, of Cheltenham: Laura was born blind in one eye, had a heart attack at 42, suffered repeated miscarriages, lost her teeth, and had three malignant cancers removed from her face. She only found out her dad Ron ‘Jesse’ Owen was involved in the tests after he died from his third massive heart attack, and her older brother Gordon died the same way just 18 months later. Laura said: “I was heavily pregnant when I found my dad dead on the floor. Now my younger brother Alan has been diagnosed with the same heart condition, and only narrowly survived. You ask yourself if it’s the radiation all the time."
You can donate to help the Nuclear Test Veterans' search for justice by clicking this link.
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