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Shocking evidence of crimes against British servicemen in Cold War radiation experiments
The nuked blood scandal first exposed by the Mirror last year has uncovered shocking new evidence of possible crimes committed by the British state against its own servicemen
John Folkes could not have been in any greater danger.
Strapped to the ‘rumble seat’ behind the pilot of a Canberra bomber, battling the shockwaves of a nuclear bomb, the terrified 19-year-old was about to plunge into the maelstrom of a mushroom cloud.
Holding a photograph of that moment in 1956, with his plane no bigger than a tiny fly next to the fireball, John now knows that his blood was part of the same Cold War radiation experiment - and the results have been hidden from him for 67 years.
“I had blood tests taken before, during and after every bomb. Yet only one is in my medical records - the one I had before I was exposed,” he said.
“They’ve since told me I had a zero radiation dose, but seeing as I flew through four nuclear weapons, needed decontamination every time, and at one point had to go into the crater, I’m not sure how they worked that out.”
The Nuked Blood Scandal
The Mirror's 3 demands:
Where are the blood tests?
Why aren’t they in veterans’ medical files?
Will the Prime Minister order the #nukedblood records to be released?
Last year the Mirror published evidence the British state had taken blood from servicemen nuked in Cold War experiments, and withheld the results.
Rishi Sunak and Ben Wallace have broken promises, made in person and in Parliament, to examine it.
Because they don’t want to see it, and because you must, we present our dossier here and say: Prime Minister, end these crimes against our veterans.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/evidence-crimes-nuked-blood-scandal-30451070
John Folkes could not have been in any greater danger.
Strapped to the ‘rumble seat’ behind the pilot of a Canberra bomber, battling the shockwaves of a nuclear bomb, the terrified 19-year-old was about to plunge into the maelstrom of a mushroom cloud.
Holding a photograph of that moment in 1956, with his plane no bigger than a tiny fly next to the fireball, John now knows that his blood was part of the same Cold War radiation experiment - and the results have been hidden from him for 67 years.
“I had blood tests taken before, during and after every bomb. Yet only one is in my medical records - the one I had before I was exposed,” he said.
“They’ve since told me I had a zero radiation dose, but seeing as I flew through four nuclear weapons, needed decontamination every time, and at one point had to go into the crater, I’m not sure how they worked that out.”
The Nuked Blood Scandal
The Mirror's 3 demands:
Where are the blood tests?
Why aren’t they in veterans’ medical files?
Will the Prime Minister order the #nukedblood records to be released?
Last year the Mirror published evidence the British state had taken blood from servicemen nuked in Cold War experiments, and withheld the results.
Rishi Sunak and Ben Wallace have broken promises, made in person and in Parliament, to examine it.
Because they don’t want to see it, and because you must, we present our dossier here and say: Prime Minister, end these crimes against our veterans.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/evidence-crimes-nuked-blood-scandal-30451070
When I was active in the anti-nuclear movement in the 1980s, among the more humbling experiences were my encounters with members of the British Nuclear Tests Veterans' Association, especially Ken McGinley, a remarkable and lovely gentleman who had witnessed several nuclear tests at Christmas Island. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he's still alive aged 84, but sadly not surprised to find out that he now has terminal cancer:
‘We got told to turn and face it, face the bomb’: Campaigning nuclear test veteran Ken McGinley reveals Stage 4 cancer
Former soldier Ken McGinley reveals his cancer diagnosis at his home in Johnstone, Renfrewshire. McGinley saw five nuclear bomb tests during his military service on Christmas Island
One of the foremost campaigners for nuclear test veterans has revealed he has cancer as he urges a new generation of activists to fight for justice for Britain’s radiation “guinea pigs”.
Former soldier Ken McGinley, who now has stage four lung and kidney cancer, witnessed five nuclear bomb tests – many of them involving devices much bigger than at Hiroshima or Nagasaki – during his military service.
He says his time is running out but the fight for justice has to go on. Politicians backed his fight and called for an apology, compensation and a full public inquiry into the treatment of nuclear test veterans.
He said: “There is no aftercare for people who have served in the British forces. The MoD prefer to fight rather than help people.”
https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/nuclear-test-veteran-ken-mcginley/
Former soldier Ken McGinley reveals his cancer diagnosis at his home in Johnstone, Renfrewshire. McGinley saw five nuclear bomb tests during his military service on Christmas Island
One of the foremost campaigners for nuclear test veterans has revealed he has cancer as he urges a new generation of activists to fight for justice for Britain’s radiation “guinea pigs”.
Former soldier Ken McGinley, who now has stage four lung and kidney cancer, witnessed five nuclear bomb tests – many of them involving devices much bigger than at Hiroshima or Nagasaki – during his military service.
He says his time is running out but the fight for justice has to go on. Politicians backed his fight and called for an apology, compensation and a full public inquiry into the treatment of nuclear test veterans.
He said: “There is no aftercare for people who have served in the British forces. The MoD prefer to fight rather than help people.”
https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/nuclear-test-veteran-ken-mcginley/
When we met, he told me many of his colleagues had already died without ever being recognized or receiving proper care, let alone compensation, from the British authorities.
Time is quickly running out for the last of them.
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