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Forgotten heroes of Britain’s nuclear tests to FINALLY get long-awaited medal this summer

The forgotten veterans will finally get official recognition for their service 71 years after they helped develop the UK’s first atomic bomb

Mirror UK, By Susie Boniface, Reporter, 24 Feb 2024

It means the forgotten veterans will finally get official recognition for their service 71 years after they helped develop the UK’s first atomic bomb.

Veteran’s son Alan Owen, who has led the medal campaign, said: “It is wonderful to know the veterans will be able to pin it on their chests before the next Remembrance Sunday.

“The tragedy is that it has come too late for more than 20,000 men who died, ignored by their governments, of radiogenic disease or in despair at the effects of radiation on their families. The medal means a lot, but we continue to campaign for war pensions, education, research, and an apology.”

Plans for how the medal will look are underway and the Ministry of Defence has been asked to include the late Queen in its design.

Steve Purse, whose RAF dad David was in charge of the airfield at Maralinga in South Australia where 600 toxic radiation experiments were conducted in the 1960s, said: “My father is long since passed away but he signed up to serve Queen and country, so it’s vital she is on it.

“It’s right the King is on there, he’s signed it off, but if his mum’s not on it, the medal would be missing something very important to a lot of veterans.”………….  https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/heroes-britains-nuclear-tests-finally-29307837

February 24, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized