Orders to hide the medical records of British troops involved in Cold War radiation experiments came from the office of a junior defence minister, the Mirror can reveal.
A shocking new document reveals a “special directive” to dispose of health data from servicemen who took part in nuclear weapon trials in Australia and the Pacific.
John Morris, repeatedly denied the results of blood tests he had while working in the laundry at Christmas Island in 1957, said: “I didn’t know when I was creating an atomic bomb what it would mean in the future. But they bloody knew. It was a cover-up and they always start at the top.”
The note, placed in the medical records of a veteran to explain the absence of paperwork, was written in 1959 – yet for 65 years the Ministry of Defence insisted no medical records were hidden. After being forced to release 4,000 pages of documents about the blood and urine testing of troops, which it had claimed never happened, the MoD has now admitted its own lawyers may have had the truth hidden from them.
If proven, millions of pounds were wasted on decades of government litigation which could have been used to compensate victims. It appears likely the Supreme Court, High Court and European Court of Human Rights, as well as coroners and war pension judges, were misled. The Atomic Weapons Establishment now stands accused of orchestrating the longest scandal in British history, with the help of politicians and officials who refused veterans’ pleas to investigate.
The Mirror has long campaigned for a fair deal for nuclear test veterans, many of whom suffered devastating consequences from exposure to radiation. Manchester metro mayor Andy Burnham said: “At long last our veterans have their smoking gun thanks to the relentless work of the Mirror. Senior officials have lied about the existence of medical records to ministers and to Parliament. It is misconduct in public office writ large. Parliament must order an immediate inquiry. If it fails to do so by the end of the year I would support taking this damning evidence to the police.”
Veterans’ lawyer Jason McCue said: “Someone, somewhere, knew about this all along. They ordered information removed from service records on spurious national security grounds, subverting the Public Records Act to hide something they didn’t want known. Whoever decided to hide the blood tests and whoever decided to keep on hiding the truth has serious questions to answer. They must now be asked by a court or a special damages tribunal. There is no alternative.”
How the ‘special directive’ was discovered
The evidence of a “special directive” was found in the medical records of a veteran who flew through the mushroom clouds of two H-bombs in 1958, and was subjected to blood testing.
He later suffered numerous cancers, and applied for his personnel file to help with a war pension. But almost a year’s worth of his RAF medical records, before and after the bombs, were missing.
After learning of the Nuked Blood Scandal, his widow reapplied for his file, and this time received more information than her husband did.
While numerous blood tests are missing, it includes a covering note from the office of a junior defence minister dated April 1959, stating records from the missing period were subject to a “special directive regarding prompt disposal”.
A family member said: “We do not know how they were disposed of – but it looks like they were squirrelled away somewhere else.”
The Mirror is withholding the family’s name to protect their privacy.
(
Jonathan Buckmaster)
* You can donate to the nuclear veterans’ legal crowdfunder and help them to win justice HERE
UK atomic tests involved 22,000 British troops, plus others from Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. Between 1952 and 1967 they took part in 45 nuclear weapons trials and nearly 600 radiation experiments in the Pacific and Australia.
Their health was monitored with radiation dose badges, blood tests, urine analysis and chest x-rays. But only the dose badges were ever made public. They were defective. Most showed nil radiation and were used to refuse war pensions. Earlier this year the Mirror reported some badges were falsified in the 1960s despite recording doses capable of causing cancer.
During the trials the Atomic Weapons Establishment collected biological data and kept a “special health register” on troops which has never been found. Afterwards it archived documents relating to the tests on a secret database, locking thousands away from view under legal exemptions relating to national security. That decision was reviewed and confirmed in 2014 and has been subject to a “rolling review” ever since.
In 2018, Parliament was told the MoD held “no information” about blood testing of troops. But in 2022 the Mirror uncovered a 1958 memo discussing the “gross irregularity” of blood tests on Sqn Ldr Terry Gledhill , who flew through the mushroom clouds.
(
Jane O’Connor)
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BNPS)
As a result, Parliament was forced to declassify and publish 4,000 pages hidden at the AWE. They showed orders were given, and followed, for thousands of troops to be sampled over more than a decade. They were supposed to be duplicated for servicemen’s medical records and presented no risk to national security whatsoever.
Freedom of Information requests show that AWE officials accessed the database 283 times after we revealed the Nuked Blood Scandal – an average of once every three days. Through it all, Tory ministers told the public it contained no useful medical information.
When the files were published in May, the Tory minister who reviewed them told Parliament they did “not contain any medical records for any former service personnel”. Yet the Mirror found blood and urine test results, discussions about the health of veterans, and completed medical forms, in the files. The AWE has been unable to say if they were ever provided to the troops involved.
Today, veterans report huge gaps in their medical records while next of kin are routinely denied access. Their families have a legacy of cancers, miscarriages and birth defects in their children and grandchildren.
A MoD source confirmed to the Mirror that lawyers acting for the government during court battles with veterans were not aware of the Terry Gledhill memo, which referenced the orders for the blood testing programme. Had they known, they would have been duty-bound to share it with a judge.
In 1995 veterans told the European Court of Human Rights their medical records were hidden behind claims of national security. Government lawyers denied it and Strasbourg ruled the claim “speculative”. The AWE has now confirmed the only evidence it gave to the ECHR about blood tests included a letter claiming it was not necessary.
The Care Act 2014 makes it illegal to withhold, falsify or destroy medical records. It would be unlawful for someone to misapply a national security exemption of the Public Records Act to hide information that would otherwise be published.
Anyone who performs a public function unlawfully while knowing or expecting it to cause harm, risks prosecution for misconduct in public office. It carries a maximum life sentence. Failing to disclose material evidence to a court can also mean legal action can be restarted – with any payouts multiplied as a result.
Blood tests would be definitive proof of radiation injury, guaranteeing compensation to those affected. They would also be vital to plans for Britain surviving a nuclear attack or accident.
A MoD spokesman praised the veterans for contributing to national security. He added: “Ministers are looking hard at the issue, including the question of records. They will continue to engage with individuals and families. As part of this, the Minister for Veterans, Alistair Carns, has already met with Parliamentarians and a nuclear test campaign group to discuss their plans further.”
Timeline of a scandal
1952 First orders for blood tests
1959 ‘Special directive’ to remove medical records
1960s Radiation doses falsified
1985 Death data from first medical study suppressed
1995 MoD denies national security used to hide records
2013 Supreme Court rules against veterans without seeing blood tests
2014 High Court rules out war pensions without evidence of blood tests
2018 MoD claims to hold “no information” about blood tests
2022 Terry Gledhill tests uncov-ered. PM agrees it may be a crime
2023 Veterans report medical records missing. AWE says it has “no evidence” of blood testing
2024 AWE publishes 4,000 pages of evidence. MoD admits government lawyers unaware.