"Three, Two, one, detonation..." a Royal Navy nuclear test veteran remembers (224)

Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times

Ian Sanders

History, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.8 • 865 Ratings

🗓️ 26 February 2022

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The British Nuclear Test Veterans Association (BNTVA) is the Charity for UK Nuclear Veterans and last year they very kindly invited me to the annual conference. I met many veterans including Peter Lambourne and this is his story. Peter joined the Royal Navy aged 15. He describes those early days including serving on HMS Wizard during the Cod War with Iceland in 1961. In 1962 Peter was then posted to HMS Resolution which was the codename for the nuclear bomb testing base on Christmas Island. Peter’s base was less than 20 miles away from where hydrogen bombs were being detonated and he shares his experiences of those detonations. Many servicemen and islanders who were present at Christmas Island from 1957 to 1962 later reported severe health problems, which they attributed to the nuclear bomb tests – from cancers to organ failure. Whilst Peter’s health has appeared unaffected, his children and grandchildren have suffered from cancers. In 2023 the UK finally awarded a medal to the nuclear test veterans. Now if you think there is a vast army of research assistants, audio engineers and producers putting together this podcast you’d be wrong. This podcast relies on your support to enable me to continue to capture these incredible stories and make them available to everyone for free. If you’d like to help to preserve Cold War history and enable me to continue to produce this podcast you can via one off or monthly donations. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ for more details. Do join our Facebook discussion group where the cold war conversation continues between episodes. Just search Cold War Conversations on Facebook. 0:00 Introduction and Peter Lambourne's background 1:06 Peter's posting to HMS Resolution and nuclear bomb testing on Christmas Island 2:29 Call for podcast support and donations 3:33 Peter's experience in the Cod War with Iceland and posting to Christmas Island 12:10 Witnessing hydrogen bomb detonations on Christmas Island 17:06 The terrifying contingency plans and impracticality of their landing crafts 21:01 Lack of protective clothing and radiation tracking 24:33 Recreational activities and dynamics of the Navy group on Christmas Island 29:47 The mystery of the "big black line" in Peter's service record and the classified nature of the mission 34:05 The health effects of radiation exposure and the government's avoidance of liability 38:09 Reflections on Christmas Island as part of Peter's naval career 42:57 Closing remarks and thanks to patrons Table of contents powered by PodcastAI✨ The British Nuclear Test Veterans Association (BNTVA) is the Charity for UK Nuclear Veterans https://www.bntva.com/ There’s further information including videos and photos on this episode here. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode224 Thank you very much for listening. It is really appreciated – goodbye. Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Cold War Conversations, the home of real stories of the Cold War.
0:05.8	Touchwood, no, I've never had any health problems whatsoever.
0:10.1	My son, who's 54, has had his thyroid removed, cancer.
0:16.4	My daughter, who's 50, has had her thyroid removed, and my granddaughter has just had her thyroid
0:24.9	removed.
0:25.6	So that's not a coincidence, is it?
0:30.0	This is Cold War Conversations.
0:35.5	The British Nuclear Test Veterans Association, the BNTVA, is the charity for UK nuclear veterans.
0:43.6	And last year they very kindly invited me to their annual conference, where I met many veterans,
0:50.0	including Peter Lamborn. and this is his story.
0:57.1	Peter joined the Royal Navy aged 15.
1:03.1	He describes those early days, including serving on HMS Wizard during the Cod War with Iceland in 1961.
1:05.9	However, in 1962, Peter was then posted to HMS Resolution, which was the code name for the nuclear
1:13.9	bomb testing base on Christmas Island. Peter's base was less than 20 miles away from where
1:21.1	hydrogen bombs were being detonated and he shares his experiences of those times.
1:33.8	Many servicemen and islanders who were present at Christmas Island from 1957 to 1962 later reported severe health problems which they attributed to the nuclear bomb tests,
1:40.4	from cancers to organ failure.
1:43.2	Whilst Peter's health has appeared unaffected,
1:46.0	his children and grandchildren have suffered from cancers.
1:50.4	The United Kingdom is the only atomic test nation
1:54.3	with no official recognition or compensation to nuclear test veterans.
2:02.4	Now, you might think there's a vast army of research assistants, audio engineers and producers
	...

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