Saluting smartly on the steps of Downing Street, veterans today fired the opening shot of a groundbreaking legal battle against the Government.
Operation Grapple survivors Brian Unthank, 86, and Terry Quinlan, 85, wore the same clothing they were given to protect them from the nuclear bomb tests which have blighted their lives ever since: shorts and boots. These two men - who have clocked up 92 skin cancers, two tumours, and 13 miscarriages between them since serving at Christmas Island in 1958 - delivered legal papers and a petition calling for an end to their 70-year campaign for the truth.
Former RAF cook Brian, of Erith, Kent, said: “For all the hard work that’s been done, I fear this was a waste of time. The MoD will try to sweep it under the carpet again. All we want is the truth but our blood has been locked away as a state secret.” He added: “I was proud to serve my country, but the Prime Minister refuses to talk to us and the Veterans Minister told us to sue. So now they’ve been served again.”
Terry, of Leybourne, Kent, was an 18-year-old Army driver at Christmas Island, ordered into the forward area after blasts and never decontaminated. After one blast he spent a week in sick bay with symptoms of radiation poisoning, and had urine samples taken, but the results are missing from his medical records. He lost all his teeth and had two massive tumours removed within two years.
Operation Grapple survivors Brian Unthank, 86, and Terry Quinlan, 85, wore the same clothing they were given to protect them from the nuclear bomb tests (Ian Vogler)He said: “They cannot ignore us any longer. Whatever happened to my blood and urine tests, they have to compensate and apologise for not giving me them, or losing them. I hope this is the last time we have to demand what we should have had long ago.”
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While a petition to the Prime Minister was accepted at Downing Street, at the Ministry of Defence armed police swooped in to move veterans and media along. Veterans who entered the building were told to leave. With the legal papers came an extraordinary offer of a fast-track public inquiry with statutory power to investigate, compensate, and commemorate the longest-running scandal in British history.
Steve Purse, who was born with undiagnosable genetic conditions and has been refused access to the blood tests of his father David, said: “There are children being born every day who may have conditions they need help with. My son has a genetic tooth condition and the sooner we can get the blood tests, the sooner we can do the research and get the answers we need, because time is not on our side.
Alan Owen, founder of campaign group LABRATS, said: “No-one can afford to wait any longer. The youngest survivors are now in their mid-80s, and we’ve seen other injustices - like Hillsborough, infected blood, and the Post Office - grind on for decades at huge cost to the taxpayer. That’s why our legal team has made an offer to the MoD to settle this quickly. It’s already going to cost millions, but if they ignore us it will cost far more.”
The Mirror uncovered the scandal in 2022, when we reported blood tests were taken from some of the 22,000 servicemen who took part in Cold War radiation experiments in Australia and the Pacific between 1952 and 1967. Veterans who seek the results receive edited medical files, while families and widows have been refused them on the grounds of patient confidentiality.
Veterans today fired the opening shot of a groundbreaking legal battle against the Government (Ian Vogler)If such tests exist, they would prove whether radiation caused the legacy of cancers, miscarriages and birth defects the veterans’ families now report. The new case hinges on forcing the government to either provide the records or compensate veterans for their loss, and has been boosted by a recent FOI ruling that the MoD was acting unlawfully by sitting on them.
Human rights lawyer Jason McCue, who is leading the case for the veterans, said: “This is tantamount to manipulating the medical records to frustrate their quest for justice and sanitise history. This stops now. The case is strong, fair, and simple, and it’s sad that it needs court action to force the MoD to take responsibility.”
Similar testing was carried out on Commonwealth troops and indigenous people whose lands were poisoned by the radiation and needed repeated cleanups. Pacific islanders and Aboriginal people have joined Australian and New Zealand veterans, and hundreds of Brits, in signing up to the case.
Ministers say 'there is no cover-up' - yet campaigners have discovered orders covering all three armed forces over more than a decade (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)Ministers have told Parliament “there is no cover-up”, yet campaigners have discovered orders covering all three armed forces over more than a decade, at all 21 nuclear blasts, as well as 593 ‘minor’ radiation experiments in the Outback.
The MoD has admitted having information about blood sampling it had previously denied existed. The Atomic Weapons Establishment, which is believed to hold the records under rules governing nuclear state secrets, has been ordered to open its files for a ministerial review. Yet still Prime Minister Rishi Sunak refuses to meet the survivors and discuss the problem, despite being asked to do so 12 times.
Labour’s Shadow Veterans Minister Steve McCabe said: “Tory ministers have dragged their feet at every turn, forcing our nuclear test veterans and their families to fight to receive medals, recognition, and their medical records. They should show these veterans respect for the lasting consequences they have endured. The MoD should act in good faith to resolve this issue as soon as possible, and ensure the best outcomes for everyone affected.” The MoD has 21 days to respond.
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The veterans’ claim has been made possible by a crowdfunder. To donate, go to
A MoD spokesman said they were "grateful" to test veterans and added: "It remains the case that no information is withheld from veterans and any medical records taken either before, during or after participation in the UK nuclear weapon tests are held in individual military medical records in the Government's archives, which can be accessed on request.”
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