GB NEWS viewers and listeners have dug deep and donated thousands of pounds to help fund a reunion for nuclear test veterans on the 72nd anniversary of Britain’s first atomic bomb detonation.
Andrew Pierce and Bev Turner praised viewers for their generosity, as a GoFundMe appeal smashed through its £25,000 goal and passed £48,000.
The cash will be used to enable over 100 test veterans and their families to enjoy a free week-long reunion at Pontins at Sand Bay in Weston-Super-Mare next year
Donations to the appeal can be made here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/nuclear-test-veterans-reunion-2025
Successive governments have refused to acknowledge health effects suffered by some of the thousands of military personnel who were sent to witness tests in the Pacific.
Alan Owen, the organiser of the appeal and founder of LABRATS International, told GB News on Thursday that some of the men were forced to watch detonations from as close as 10 miles away.
Many have suffered from a series of health problems, some of which have been passed down generations, but successive governments have refused to acknowledge that any injuries were caused by the tests.
Owen told how it was only last year that the veterans received a medal in recognition of their service during the test, but they were awarded without ceremony and posted out in jiffy bags.
Families who have tried to access medical records from the time have found that they have gone missing.
Veteran Brian Unthank was asked how many skin cancer procedures he has had: “Ninety-three so far. I was supposed to go back in October but that’s been put back for another six months.
“I lost my teeth at the age of 20. I’m now 86 years old.
“We have been going down to Sand Bay, meeting with Alan and lots of the other veterans and the descendants and widows and other people.
“It makes you feel part of a big family group, you’re always made to feel welcome.
“Alan, Laura, his sister and Mel, his wife, they’re so welcoming. And all the volunteers who help make you feel, as I said, part of a major family, which we are.”
The programme also heard from MP Rebecca Long-Bailey, who said: “They’ve been fighting for many years for access to their medical records, for example, urine and blood tests that they know were taken during their service.
“But when many of these families have tried to access their records, these test results seem to be missing and there’s no explanation as to why this has happened.
“Those records are necessary, not just for an argument about compensation, but for accessing things such as war pensions, where they have to demonstrate that they’ve undergone a significant degree of risk during their service.”
She added: “Beyond this, I think there needs to be a formal understanding and education within our national curriculum of the importance of these weapons tests, how they played their part in ensuring our safety and security, but also the negative impact of that on those men and their families.”