20 October 2023 , 14:50
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Sixty five years after watching the horrors of five nuclear bombs, Jackson Hasson was delighted to be told he was finally getting a medal for it.
But when daughter Lesley told him the veterans were hoping for a special ceremony with the King to present them, he was in despair - living in a Glasgow care home, and confined to a wheelchair with chronic health problems linked to radiation exposure, he knew he'd never make it to Buckingham Palace.
His family asked the home to organise something special for the great-grandad, and so they got in touch with the Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire, Colonel Peter McCarthy, who visited the home this week to formally present Jackson with his medal in a special ceremony.
Similar small events with Lord Lieutenants - the official local representatives of the monarch - are being planned across the country, after it became apparent that despite a year of asking, no national ceremony has been organised.
Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
Jackson received his medal from Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire Colonel Peter McCarthy (© Jamie Williamson)In January, the King let it be known he was keen to hold an event and had left space in his diary for it, but after the medal was hit by delays the chance passed. Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer has told Parliament he hopes to arrange something after Remembrance Sunday.
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"When there was word that the King might do a ceremony, I asked dad if he wanted to go and he was gutted as he just does't feel fit enough," said youngest daughter Lesley.
"Because I thought he'd be the one missing out, I asked the home to arrange a presentation. We didn't realise at the time that this would happen before an official presentation by the King, if that even happens now.
"He's really pleased to get the medal, but like so many others just feels thart there is a real lack of offiical recognition and support, and I guess taking responsibility for what was effectively putting all these guys out there as guinea pigs."
Mementoes of Jackson's deployment at Christmas Island (© Jamie Williamson)Jackson was just 21 when he was ordered to Christmas Island in the South Pacific with the Royal Engineers while on National Service. He took part in Operation Grapple in 1957 and 1958, witnessing two atomic bombs and three more powerful hydrogen weapons, and which led to the US and UK joining forces as military allies.
He was one of two engineers responsible for maintaining the boilers that fed the cookhouses for the main camp, which had 4,000 troops to feed three times a day. He watched the bomb blasts while sat in the open, wearing only swimming shorts. In the year over which the testing took place, he learned to climb coconut trees to pick the nuts, and swam in the lagoons, which are since feared to have become radioactive.
After some of the Grapple tests, rain fell across the island after seawater was sucked up by the blast, and fell back to Earth as contaminated fallout.
An image of Britain's first H-bomb, Grapple X, in November 1957 (From the Nuclear Weapon Archive)Jackson has been plagued by ulcers and digestive problems since his early 20s, and his bones began crumbling to the extent he needed a double hip replacement in his 50s. He was forced to take early retirement and moved into the Erskine Veterans Home in Bishopton, Glasgow, after his wife passed away.
Lesley said: "My dad always said that with his back to the blasts and sitting there with no top on, the immense heat he elt on his spine and lower back was incredible, and again, with neurosurgeons unable to diagnose why his bones were so frail, questions started arising about whether his time on Christmas Island played a part."
The family also fears the damage could have been passed on, with his two daughters both developing deafness at an early age. Lesley has suffered fertility problems while her sister has chronic bowel problems. Jackson's twin grandchildren were born 14 weeks premature, and one of them was born with a sunken chest cavity for which there's no explanation.
Lesley said: "My own children are 20 years old, and it's humbling to think of what an important service my dad and all these other servicemen were selflesly involved in for their country when they were all similar ages to my own kids now."
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Erskine's chief executive Ian Cumming said: "It is important that we continue to mark the service and sacrifice that the Christmas Island veterans made, while remembering the danger they faced without understanding the risks involved in their deployment."
More than a hundred test veterans and families in the UK and Australia have signed up to a legal case demanding the Ministry of Defence produce the blood tests it was ordered to conduct during the weapons trials. You can donate to the crowdfunder here.