Capturing the forgotten voices of British Nuclear Test Veterans
Professor Chris Hill has led a £250,000 research project in partnership with the University of Liverpool and the British Library, to recognise the service of air force, army, civilian and naval personnel who served in nuclear tests in Australia and the Pacific during the 1950s and 60s.
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Funded by the Office for Veterans’ Affairs, An Oral History of British Nuclear Test Veterans recorded 41 in-depth life stories with the ‘forgotten generation’ of veterans, now in their eighties and nineties, who shared how their lives have been profoundly shaped by their experiences.
The history of British nuclear weapons tests in Australia and the Pacific has been poorly understood within the UK. Yet these tests were among the largest military operations since 1945, having involved an estimated 22,000 British citizens.
Since the tests, these men struggled to gain official and public recognition for their service, despite claims that they were exposed to ionising radiation from nuclear detonations.
As links between exposure and ill-health remained ambiguous – and test operations subject to the Official Secrets Act – the nuclear test veteran (NTV) became an invisible figure: a forgotten soldier cut adrift from the mainstream of Cold War history.
This project began by asking what ‘recognition’ might constitute and mean for NTVs. Through recording their life histories, it sought to define and negotiate recognition across multiple interconnecting levels, from the ‘self-recognition’ of the veteran interviewee through to community, media and policymaker perspectives.
An Oral History of British Nuclear Test Veterans has contributed to the social history of post-war Britain by preserving and recognising the veterans’ voices with an online archive hosted by the British Library, downloadable lesson packs, and a short documentary film by BAFTA-award winning filmmaker Sasha Snow.
Indications from this research suggest that the life history process was incredibly meaningful for the NTVs who participated in it, empowering them to reassess their experiences and share these more widely in both private and public settings. In turn, this has revealed a link between ‘recognition’ of NTVs and their personal sense of wellbeing.
A series of findings and lessons learned have emerged out of the oral history process, which point towards potential pathways for future policymaking, education and research.