Alan Rimmer - Between Heaven and Hell

The family were relieved that Rebecca was fit and well, until she became pregnant at 18. At about 23 weeks she went to the doctor because she was concerned about not being able to feel her unborn baby moving. Tests revealed the devastating reason: the baby was dead.

A reason was never given for the child’s death, but the family believe they know. Rebecca’s mum Diane, has no doubts: “We all know the reason. There was never any illness in the family before my dad contracted leukaemia. But now it is just one thing after another. It just seems to go on and on.”

It is of course impossible to establish whether there is a connection with Mr Condon’s exposure to radiation and the tragic series of illnesses in his family. But the Condon case is by no means unique. Evidence of trans-generational genetic disorders pepper the files of the nuclear tests veterans association.

A prime example of a “nuclear family” is that of Archie Ross. Since returning from Christmas Island he has suffered cataracts which doctors confirmed were almost certainly caused by ionising radiation.

As we have seen, soon after he returned to the UK, his wife gave birth to Julie who had a range of physical disabilities that persist to this day. But Mr Ross also had another daughter, Tracy, who was born perfect.

The family was again thrown into turmoil when Tracy married and gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby, Jacob. The odds against these events occurring naturally are incalculable. But no official study has ever been proposed to investigate this dreadful phenomenon.

In 2006 the veteran’s campaign was given an unexpected boost from the other side of the world. Seemingly out of the blue, a new scientific technique established that exposure to A-bombs could leave a fingerprint in the DNA of the victim.

New Zealand servicemen who witnessed the Grapple series of tests at Christmas Island had without fanfare commissioned a study by Professor Al Rowland of Massey University to examine this novel concept.

They asked him to investigate if sailors, on board two ships that steamed through fallout zones, had suffered genetic damage. Rowland said that after the passing of 50 years he wasn’t sure there would be anything to find. But after meeting the NZ veteran’s charismatic chairman Roy Sefton, he said he would give it a go.

Rowland concentrated on new scientific tests which looked at translocations, the exchange of genetic material, between different chromosomes. Translocations show evidence of genetic damage and are therefore important indicators of cancers and other illnesses.

Under strict scientific disciplines, blood was taken from 50 of the NZ nuclear veterans for comparison with 50 servicemen who had not been at the tests.

The study identified crucial differences: the veterans had far more cancers and skin problems. And the level of translocations in veterans was three times higher than in the control group.

When the results were published they couldn’t be faulted. The study was successfully peer reviewed by respected scientific journals. Rowland was unequivocal: this was proof that servicemen had been exposed to radiation from the Grapple bomb tests.

The news was a huge boost to the flagging fortunes of the British veterans, especially when even the MoD was forced to admit it couldn’t fault the procedures used by Rowland.

The breakthrough was a remarkable testament to the tenacity of Roy Sefton who set about gaining support for the study after he became ill.

He was just 17 when he was sent to the Pacific aboard the frigate Pukaki which, together with its sister ship Rotoiti, was to monitor British H-bomb tests for the New Zealand government.

By the time he was 30, Mr Sefton could hardly walk and his joints ached that much there were times he couldn’t touch anything without feeling pain. But he soon discovered he wasn’t alone.

At least six of his shipmates died in their 20s, from cancers associated with radiation poisoning. Professor Neil Pearce, a distinguished epidemiologist analysed the health records of the New Zealand veterans and found a small, but significant increase, in death rates. He also discovered the men died from cancers typically associated with radiation.

During the Grapple Tests Pukaki spent months patrolling the seas around Christmas Island. Because fresh water was so scarce, the crews often bathed in rainwater as they chased the rain-storms following the explosions. And they ate locally-caught fish and produce from nearby islands.

Mr Sefton was convinced the crews’ health problems were caused by fallout. But the British government denied there was any link with the tests. Sefton, observing how the British veterans were getting nowhere with their claims, decided the New Zealand veterans would go it alone.

They raised the $250,000 needed to carry out the complicated and costly genetic tests on the veterans. But even then Professor Rowland was sceptical: “I had my doubts that we could find out anything about something that occurred 50 years ago. But the alternative was to do nothing and I felt that if we lived in a responsible society we at least should give it a try.”

Professor Rowland had access to a new technique that had been used on Chernobyl victims and nuclear workers, but never before on nuclear veterans. Rowland started selecting 50 veterans of the nuclear bomb tests and 50 controls, matched perfectly for age, lifestyle and even drinking and smoking habits. It was a painstaking task that took many years.

The results were astonishing: signs of damage in the chromosomes, the structure that contains the DNA, in the nuclear veterans, was so marked that Professor Rowland had no hesitation in signifying that this was caused by radiation. Each pair of chromosome has its own colour. A colour switch would mean a sign of genetic damage known as a chromosomal translocation. The more translocations you have, the greater the risk of developing cancers.

Professor Rowland found the translocations in the nuclear veterans were three times the number of translocations in the controls. The results were higher than the Chernobyl victims, in fact they were the highest Rowland had ever seen.

His conclusion: “Our view is that this was caused by radiation because the frequency is so high and we have taken into account every other known confounding factor. We are left with only one option: this group was damaged because the men took part in Operation Grapple.”

While the British government digested this unwelcome news, the rest of the world bowed to the inevitable.

The nuclear nations, including, America, Russia, France and China announced they would pay compensation to their nuclear veterans. Even the Manx government, the Tynwald, agreed to pay 12 veterans living on the island £8,000 each for the physical and mental anguish they had suffered through their participation in the bomb tests.

Britain now stood uniquely alone in its stubborn refusal to acknowledge the veteran’s claims. Rather than concede defeat, it dismissed the evidence of the Rowland study as “too small”.

But the Rowland evidence could not be discarded so lightly, and a high-powered firm of London solicitors decided to mount a legal challenge.

In the past the Ministry of Defence had blocked legal moves against it by saying any action would be time-barred because the bomb tests occurred outside the legal time limit. Rosenblatt solicitors decided to challenge this in the courts. If successful, it would open the way for a multi-million pound compensation claim by the veterans.

It was a high-risk strategy and the firm stood to lose millions, but it pressed on nevertheless and 1,010 veterans were chosen to fight the case in the High Court, with nine ‘lead’ cases as the stalking horses. And they believed there was really only one man capable of leading the fight. It was the man who started it all, and he was the only one who could finish it.