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Nuclear heroes who took part in perilous missions through fallout clouds in the Pacific are to be honoured with a medal. Hundreds of veterans who tracked and photographed massive French and Chinese explosions in the Pacific for the Royal Air Force and Royal Fleet Auxiliary will finally be commemorated. The men were previously deemed ineligible for the nuclear test medal, under narrower criteria set by the last Tory government. Defence Secretary John Healey said: “Our nuclear test veterans helped to build the foundations for the UK’s security and freedoms that we enjoy today. The nation owes them an overdue debt of gratitude.” The nuclear test medal was announced in 2023 after a five year Mirror campaign, and nearly 6,000 have been given to veterans of British bomb tests in Australia and Christmas Island between 1952 and 1967. Now RFA civilian crews who monitored explosions from the sea, and RAF crews involved in gathering intelligence on clouds from French tests until 1974 and Chinese tests until 1980, will also be eligible for the honour. Many of the men claimed they were exposed to radiation and have gone on to develop cancer, while their children and grand children have reported birth defects. John Cammish was ground crew chief on the RAF's photographic reconnaissance 543 Squadron, which used converted Victor bombers to chase mushroom clouds in the 1970s. He died in 2020 aged 87, after having his larynx and thyroid removed due to cancer which the MoD later admitted was linked to radiation exposure. His widow Lucy, 93, of St Ives, Cambridgeshire, said: “It makes me feel very happy to know they are finally being recognised for what they did. "John wasn’t one for medals, and he never spoke much about it, but I think it’s important for our family.” Mr Healey added: “This is a tribute to the tireless work of the campaign group LABRATS and the Mirror, whose determination to secure recognition for these veterans has been unfailing.” But some veterans have refused to accept the medal, saying the criteria still excludes certain comrades, including those tasked with maintaining contaminated aircraft on their return to the UK. They say the timing of the announcement before Remembrance Sunday turns it into a publicity stunt. Colin Duncan, 88, of Chipping Sudbury, Gloucestershire, who ws RAF ground crew in Peru to study French tests, has been fighting for the medal to be extended to all, and converted to a full military honour. He said: “I know of many who came down with cancer, who had children with leukaemia, who worked on those same planes when they returned to the UK. The only decontamination they had was flying through rainclouds. The crews took the same risks and did the same service as those on detachment, which will include the signallers and Met Office chaps who were nowhere near the planes. Unless the medal is for all of us, it’s just a sop.” Barry Fagg, 81, of Cromer, Norfolk, who washed down planes in Peru and the UK in 1968 after they had flown through French hydrogen bombs, refuses to apply fhttps://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/nuked-blood-guinea-pig-troops-34226606or his own gong. He said: “No-one mentioned radiation. We had no protection and no warning. My wife and I later lost our first child to miscarriage, and it’s still raw. They’re just doing this for publicity because it’s Remembrance, but I’d rather they waited, and did it properly.” The Mirror is still pushing for justice for victims of the Nuked Blood Scandal. After decades of official denial that nuclear veterans were used in radiation experiments, the Mirror uncovered blood tests hidden behind national security at the Atomic Weapons Establishment. Some of those involved in the foreign tests have found their medical records are missing. Records of their radiation doses have been discovered in the same secret archive as blood test data of veterans of British bomb tests. Campaigners now hope that the cancers and death rates of those who took part in the foreign tests will be included in a long-term government study of nuclear veterans. * To apply for the medal, go to https://www.gov.uk/apply-medal-or-veterans-badge/apply-for-a-medal
