Nuclear test veterans denied justice

THE national newspaper headline asks a question in thick black text at the top of the page: Did YOU sail on this ship of doom?

- ANDY PHILLIPS

Underneath, handwritten in black biro, but circled for emphasis, is the answer: YES, as Master Gunner.

The article is part of a cache of documents collected by Michael Burt – as the handwritten answer was added by his father, Douglas, a former Royal Navy officer.

Mr Burt Snr was among a group of personnel now better known as ‘nuclear test veterans’, as they were subjected to ordeals designed to find out the result of exploding atomic bombs.

He was part of the crew of HMS Diana, which was ordered to steam through fallout from a nuclear test on the Montebello Islands, a tiny archipelago around 200km from Western Australia.

Having been fitted out at HMNB Devonport specifically for the tests, HMS Diana was first sent to Aden, a then British colony in what is now Yemen. Then they were deployed to the remote part of the Indian Ocean, to sail through radioactive clouds from hydrogen bomb tests.