22 April 2024 , 06:44
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Tens of thousands of files dating from the Cold War that showed the horror effects of radiation and nuclear testing on British troops were covered up
The Ministry of Defence has spent more than £250,000 burying records about blood tests of British troops because of the “legal risks”.
Documents show civil servants ordered the cover-up of 78,000 files about Cold War radiation experiments, previously in the public domain.
One was a 1958 memo, seen by the Mirror, showing “gross irregularity” in the blood of Squadron Leader Terry Gledhill, who was ordered to fly through the mushroom clouds. Its discovery uncovered repeated orders for blood testing of thousands of nuclear veterans.
Nuclear test veterans (L-R) Terry Quinlan, Steve Purse, Alan Owen, Brian Unthank ( Image: Ian Vogler)
Campaigner Alan Owen said: “We are certain the Gledhill memo was not the only one written about the effect radiation had on troops. It seems the MoD decided hiding them was cheaper than letting us see them.”
The bill for checking and processing the documents came to £250,000, according to a Freedom of Information request to the National Archives.
The infamous Operation Crossroads tests at Bikini Atoll ( Image: Corbis via Getty Images)
A letter from former UK nuclear weapons chief Paul Hollinshead shows he wanted the documents out of the public domain, shortly after the Mirror launched its campaign on the scandal. An internal report said: “There are legal risks associated to some of these records.”
The FOI reveals thousands of documents have been sent to an archive at Wick, Scotland, or to the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Aldermaston, Berks. The MoD was approached for comment.