Widow: Give us nuclear bomb justice

Published on Thursday 14 July 2011 11:25

A WIDOW told today how she would fight for justice for her husband and other soldiers used as "guinea pigs" during British nuclear bomb tests amid new calls for the Scottish Government to step in.

GUINEA PIGS: Catherine Scott wants justice for her late husband William and the others who were on Christmas Island. Picture: JAYNE WRIGHT

Catherine Scott's late husband William was one of thousands of servicemen showered with radiation during atomic testing off Christmas Island in the late 1950s.

Mrs Scott, from Haddington, has now taken up his fight for compensation following his death at the age of 70 and has won support from Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray, who has urged First Minister Alex Salmond to intervene.

Royal Engineer Mr Scott had been fighting his case for 15 years and was one of at least six Lothian members of a campaign group seeking compensations from the government for a series of illnesses contracted in later life.

Mrs Scott said: "This is not about the money, I just want justice. It's time the British government recognised what was done to these poor men."

Mr Scott, who died two years ago of pneumonia and emphysema, was plagued with illness for the last decade of his life - a symptom of exposure to at least five bomb tests during his military service in the Pacific, his wife claims.

Mrs Scott, 61, told how her husband spoke of witnessing the explosions wearing only shorts and a shirt.

"They were told to go down to the beach and to cover their eyes with their hands during the testing," she said.

"William told me he felt the power of the explosion going right through him. He said even though his eyes were shut he could see the skeleton of his hand as it went off. Afterwards, he said, it just poured with rain."

She added: "It's absolutely atrocious how my husband and others have been treated. They were used as guinea pigs."

In June 2009, the High Court allowed ten test cases to go to full trial and it was hoped this would pave the way for 1011 veterans to stake their claim.

A legal battle in the Supreme Court set to be held on July 28 has now been delayed while lawyers are cleared to read classified military documents.

Mrs Scott said: "The MoD are doing everything in their power to stop this happening, which I think is outrageous.

"I had to watch him deteriorate. He was a proud man, so it was very sad to see him go out the way he did - and I think it's all down to Christmas Island."Mr Gray has written to the First Minister asking what discussions there have been with the MoD on behalf of Scottish atomic veterans - and called for Holyrood to pay out first.

He said: "I don't usually believe in the Scottish Government getting involved in areas which are the responsibility of the UK Government, but the Isle of Man Government has made ex-gratia payments of 8000 to each of its veterans affected by atomic testing, so I am asking Alex Salmond to consider what his administration could do to help."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "While this matter is reserved to Westminster, the minister with responsibility for veterans' issues, Keith Brown, is meeting with veterans in the coming weeks."