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VOICE-OVER: When peace returned
to our islands,

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we had hardly taken stock
of our resources

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00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:35,240
when we were confronted
with a new danger,

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more frightful than ever before.

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We must prepare ourselves,

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00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:45,000
each one of us, to face
the appalling catastrophe

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00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:49,840
that may be our supreme testing time
in the history of civilisation.

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Everyone must have some
idea of what to do.

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00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:00,400
RADIO INTERFERENCE

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I was 19 when we were
put on a boat.

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00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:02,760
Christmas Island, here we come.

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It was, you know, in those days,
well, you just did as you were told,

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you didn't argue.

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You were told you were going
and you went.

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Didn't even know where it was
or why we were going there.

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Christmas Island itself

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is as near as makes no difference
on the equator

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and location is fairly
easy to understand,

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roughly in the middle
of the Pacific.

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It's right in the middle of nowhere.

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Took us four weeks to get there.

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The holiday cruise
that people pay a fortune for today.

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There was coconut plantations
on the island.

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And from that view, it looked
like a tropical paradise,

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which it was.

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When we landed, we were informed
we've got to sign

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the Official Secrets Act
there and then.

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We were told that the work
we were doing

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was top secret

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and under no circumstances

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we were even to discuss
our duties with each other.

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We had no idea what was coming next.

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TANNOY PLAYS: In The Middle
Of An Island by Tony Bennett

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Someone set up, in a tent somewhere,

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Christmas Island radio station.

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Playing sort of music,
like, you know?

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Our recreation was either
going out fishing or swimming

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or playing sport.

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There was also what they called
the bar, on the foreshore.

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The bar was right on the edge
of the beach.

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No more than 50 metres away
from the sea.

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You know, so a few drinks too many

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and you could suddenly decide
to go for a swim,

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never to be seen again.

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From time to time, when we got time,
we'd go and have a swim.

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And when you went under
the water on the reefs,

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they were beautiful.

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They were out of this world.

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Marine life was prolific.

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The island itself
was full of sea birds.

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They were absolutely amazing.

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The giant frigate birds, I used
to lay on my back sometimes

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and watch them soar
into the clouds.

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There was guillemots, divers,

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Arctic terns,

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gannets...

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There was all manner of birds -
thousands of 'em.

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I mean, to us, it was an adventure.

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To go abroad was unbelievable.

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You know, it never happened.

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Couldn't believe it!
Couldn't believe it.

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I mean, you know,
we'd never been anywhere.

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I'd come from Lancashire.

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The only place I'd ever been
was Blackpool.

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It was everything you could
have dreamed of,

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but nobody knew anything at all
about why we were there.

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What was the purpose behind
this little British Army unit

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in the middle of a gigantic ocean?

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It was our tropical paradise.

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But within a short period of time,

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we were aware that our presence
on the island

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brought a very dark shadow.

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We soon found out that we were there

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to witness nuclear weapons
being tested.

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Prior to the first bomb,

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we were working towards creating
places for it to be used,

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like building the control rooms
and extending the runway.

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We'd create the concrete bases
to park these big planes

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that were going to actually
carry the bombs.

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We were never, ever given
any information

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on the size of the bombs.

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My feelings were that they wouldn't
put us in any danger...

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..because they said they wouldn't.

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"We've got nothing to fear.

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"Everything has been calculated."

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We got up early in the morning
and we were taken

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to somewhere in the main camp area,
near the beach.

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There was loudspeakers that was
telling you all that was going on.

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We were told to wear long trousers,
but ordinary clothes, you know.

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You'd see the plane flying
round in the sky,

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circling around above you.

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We were told to sit with our backs

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to where the explosion
was going to be

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so it went off behind us.

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00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:12,920
There was music playing
over the tannoy system.

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They were playing
Hawaiian-sounding songs.

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They took the indigenous people
off the island.

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Most of the superior officers,

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they all went off somewhere.

100
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So it only left...us.

101
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I had to take
our platoon commander off.

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The place I dropped him off,

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everybody seemed to have
protective clothing on.

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When I got back to the beach
where we had to sit and wait,

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I realised that none of us'd
had any protective clothing.

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That's when I got really,
really scared about it.

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We were left out there in the open

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to just stand there
and watch the damn thing.

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All sorts of things
go through your mind.

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What if?

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INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER

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Just prior to the explosion,

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we were told, "Shut your eyes.
Put your hands over your eyes."

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ANNOUNCEMENT: Minus 40 seconds.
Close eyes. Close eyes.

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INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER

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Minus 50 seconds. 202.

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Steady, steady!

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Steady, steady, steady!

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Now. Bomb away.

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INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER

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Minus 20 seconds.

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10, 9, 8, 7,

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6, 5, 4,

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3,

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2, 1.

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Now.

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The flash seems to come
through the back of your head.

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You could see the bones
in your fingers

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through your closed eyes.

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Bearing in mind the light was not
in front of you, it was behind you.

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Yeah, you could see
all your bones lit up.

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Brilliant white, you know.

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Yeah, you could see every...
every join.

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And the heat was already
coming through your body,

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it was that hot.

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I felt that it wouldn't take
much more for me to combust.

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It's so hard to explain
because it's so unnatural.

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We were ordered to turn round
and view the weapon.

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The flash is a thousand times
brighter than the sun.

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It wasn't an explosion.

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It's a creation of another sun.

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The hot ball of the explosion
was black and red and boiling,

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churning and rising,
and bursting out.

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Greys, blacks, greens,
oranges, reds.

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All the colours you could
imagine, but they weren't in...

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00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:41,480
..what I would consider
a pretty formation.

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It was an angry, evil-looking thing.

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00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:55,240
We saw what looked like
Catherine wheels spiralling.

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Then it actually turned out
they'd be birds on fire.

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Hundreds of them burning.

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A lot of them were still alive...
and blind.

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And then suddenly the tannoy
announcer said,

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"Find cover,"

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because there would be a massive
pressure wave coming our way.

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Branches, leaves, shrub,

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coconuts - everything just flew past

157
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and you could see the trees
rocking back and forth.

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They were hard lads,
they were tough,

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but some of them were really
shaking, terrified. Yeah.

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People were on their knees.

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It seems as if the bomb
actually detonated lower

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than what it was expected.

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As the bomb goes up, it's like
a vacuum is cleaning up everything.

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I mean, it emptied an entire lagoon.

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And all the sand, rubbish
and all that going up.

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All the marine life.

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The lot of that is all going up

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and what goes up must come down.

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Well, of course, it rained.

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It just covered the whole island

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and it absolutely tipped it down
with this glistening rain.

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The rain wasn't normal droplets.

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It was discoloured.

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It was black.

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That bomb was so powerful

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that it just incinerated everything
in its path for several miles.

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The bomb itself,

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it was a thousand times bigger
than Hiroshima or Nagasaki.

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I was ordered to form a team

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to clear up that birds
and fish that it had killed.

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We were given no protective
clothing to do it.

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We went round collecting up
the dead ones.

183
00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:28,360
They'd just been...

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..wiped out.

185
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There were so many dead birds.

186
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It was just impossible.

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We were wading in water

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and there was a floating crust
of these dead birds and animals

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about two foot thick.

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00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:55,560
As for the marine life...

191
00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:00,840
..I can only imagine that sharks
would come in and other fish

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00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:04,040
and would devour these birds,
which may well be...

193
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..contaminated.

194
00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:13,800
We were told if we caught any fish,
"You're not to eat them."

195
00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:18,920
And I do remember that some
of the lads did eat them.

196
00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:22,920
They said they would light a fire
and they would eat the fish.

197
00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,480
GEIGER COUNTER CRACKLES

198
00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:49,520
We never really sat down and
talked about what we'd witnessed.

199
00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:56,080
I think it was a situation,
well, everybody's there.

200
00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:58,080
We all saw the same thing.

201
00:19:58,080 --> 00:19:59,520
There's nothing really to say.

202
00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:06,040
Once it was over, it was over.

203
00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:09,400
Nobody really discussed it at all.

204
00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:16,200
It happened, and that was that.

205
00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:18,040
Everybody went back...

206
00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:19,080
You were back to normal.

207
00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:33,880
It looked like a formidable weapon.

208
00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:38,640
And it made you feel
a little bit gung ho.

209
00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:42,720
If that was a weapon in our armoury,

210
00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:45,120
then that was one heck of a weapon.

211
00:20:45,120 --> 00:20:47,760
You wouldn't fear anybody.

212
00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:50,160
With a weapon like that,

213
00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:52,080
you could destroy nations.

214
00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:26,760
We were moving
into the great unknown.

215
00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:33,920
It may seem strange to say now,

216
00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:38,520
but we really did believe
we were that close to nuclear war.

217
00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:49,760
The policy was basically
mutual assured destruction -

218
00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:51,040
MAD.

219
00:21:54,360 --> 00:21:58,840
The acronym Mad was certainly
very appropriate

220
00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:00,600
under the circumstances.

221
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:04,920
If the Russians
launched their missiles,

222
00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:10,040
then they would be met with a direct
response of exactly the same thing.

223
00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:16,840
The entire continent
would have been flattened.

224
00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:23,360
We were all preparing
for the "what if?".

225
00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:34,160
ARCHIVE:
On the North Yorkshire moors

226
00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:36,600
is the ballistic missile
early warning station

227
00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:38,000
of RAF Fylingdales.

228
00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:41,840
Its prime function is basic -

229
00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:44,880
to alert the west of
a possible Russian attack

230
00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:46,520
by ballistic missiles.

231
00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:52,960
To be the unsleeping eye
that watches and misses nothing.

232
00:22:58,120 --> 00:23:01,640
When I got to Fylingdales
for the first time,

233
00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:03,520
I was expecting Star Trek

234
00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:05,000
and I thought it'd be like that.

235
00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,440
It was like a science fiction film,

236
00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:13,560
but something out of the 1950s.

237
00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:20,960
Huge pieces of equipment.

238
00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:22,920
It was just an... Really...

239
00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:25,160
I'd never seen anything
like it before.

240
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:45,880
I was really surprised to find out

241
00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:49,000
that RCA, as in
Radio Corporation of America,

242
00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,760
the people that flog you vinyl,

243
00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:55,360
actually built the ballistic
missile early warning system.

244
00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:00,680
Because it's not
an obvious fit, is it?

245
00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:07,040
One of their stars was David Bowie,
wasn't it?

246
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:11,600
Didn't make any sense to me
at the time.

247
00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:29,720
There's a huge big dish.

248
00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:31,000
160 tonnes.

249
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,640
There was three radars,
one in each of the domes.

250
00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:43,520
You had a tracker ball
and a joystick,

251
00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:46,240
that's how you would control
the radar.

252
00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:54,320
You're watching the skies,
space, 24/7,

253
00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:57,840
looking for any kind of attack
from Soviet Russia.

254
00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,240
ARCHIVE: But what of a threat of
a Russian bomb?

255
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:11,160
Isn't Fylingdales a likely target?

256
00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:13,720
Such projections have no part

257
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:17,400
in the philosophy of farmer
Lorne Wilkinson.

258
00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:21,120
He has farmed the heights above
Fylingdales for over 20 years,

259
00:25:21,120 --> 00:25:23,960
and he regards it
with patriotic pride.

260
00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:27,360
Where isn't there a target
in the world?

261
00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:28,760
There's a target anywhere.

262
00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:31,240
We're all in a target.
The whole country's in a target.

263
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:32,480
America's in a target.

264
00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:35,120
Everybody's in a target zone.

265
00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:40,240
That place there, they're our eyes.

266
00:25:46,120 --> 00:25:48,400
You didn't know, especially
during the Cold War,

267
00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:50,440
when things might escalate.

268
00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:54,880
So we always had a full team there,
ready to do what was necessary.

269
00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:00,000
I felt I was doing
something important.

270
00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:06,720
You're constantly training
for war all the time.

271
00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:15,200
In the event of the central
government, the regions

272
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:17,880
and the counties all being reduced
to rubble,

273
00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:21,000
the dawn of any new civilisation
in the area of Milland

274
00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:23,080
will be the Rising Sun,

275
00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:26,160
where Major General John Frost
will co-ordinate parish efforts

276
00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:28,840
to house and feed survivors.

277
00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:31,560
One of the general's worries
is what to do if people ignore

278
00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:35,480
the Government's advice and persist
in fleeing to the country.

279
00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:39,240
Patrols will look out
for such refugees.

280
00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:41,520
If we were suddenly faced
with a whole lot of people

281
00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:45,000
who came out from built up
areas looking for shelter, food,

282
00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:46,680
then we couldn't compete.

283
00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:50,000
We'd have to, then, possibly,
if we got no help from elsewhere,

284
00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:51,760
look around to see what we could do.

285
00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:58,000
Of course, we were dealing
with people who still had

286
00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:00,880
memories of the Second World War

287
00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:04,160
and the odd Dad's Army
type characters

288
00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:07,040
who had organised the community

289
00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:09,080
and all that went with that.

290
00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:16,680
You have, I think, been criticised
by some people

291
00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:18,880
for perhaps being a little too keen.

292
00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:21,280
Is that fair criticism? Most unfair.

293
00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:23,520
We haven't...
There's no comparison at all.

294
00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:25,200
We haven't tried to form
a Home Guard

295
00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:26,440
or anything of the sort.

296
00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:31,760
All we've done is to, with the men,
with the equipment, etc,

297
00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:35,760
that we have available is to try
to think what might happen

298
00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:38,320
and how we can best use
what we've got

299
00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:41,240
to help life in the valley
to go on as usual.

300
00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:45,240
We did try and rein them in,
obviously,

301
00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:47,480
with their enthusiastic plans,

302
00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:50,800
particularly to try
and persuade them that, no,

303
00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:54,080
they couldn't put barbed wire
round their village

304
00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:55,880
to keep other people out.

305
00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:57,280
That sort of thing.

306
00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:05,480
I was employed by
Essex County Council

307
00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:08,520
as a civil defence
planning officer,

308
00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:12,280
and I joined a team
of about a half a dozen others.

309
00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:26,560
There was this very substantial
underground building

310
00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:29,320
with about 20 different rooms.

311
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:36,440
Most people were totally
unaware of its existence.

312
00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:56,920
Obviously, we needed
to practise our plans.

313
00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:03,360
Everyone would get round a table

314
00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:06,600
and we would play out
a particular scenario.

315
00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:10,320
I'm in agreement,

316
00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:13,600
but aren't we forgetting
those who are wandering around

317
00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:15,400
dazed and shocked?

318
00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:18,120
Yeah, that's why I suggest we go
and do a reconnaissance.

319
00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:20,800
It may sound harsh, but
should one be concentrating

320
00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:23,280
attention on those who may be
in the damaged areas

321
00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:26,240
that...? We're going to have lots
of people wandering around there.

322
00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:27,280
What can you do?

323
00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:30,800
Well, they're going
to die anyway

324
00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:34,440
so what is the point
in bringing them under cover?

325
00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:39,400
OFF-SCREEN: On occasion, we would
actually have a practical exercise

326
00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:42,720
and we would actually play for real.

327
00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:48,480
The fact that a nuclear device
had landed in the next door county

328
00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:52,680
and therefore there was radiation
coming in your direction

329
00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:57,200
and how they would actually
handle their response for survival.

330
00:29:57,200 --> 00:30:00,120
SCREAMING AND YELLING

331
00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:08,120
SCREAMING: Please don't leave me!
Please don't leave me!

332
00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:11,240
No, I don't want to go!
I don't want to go!

333
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:14,080
SIRENS DROWN OUT SCREAMS

334
00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:15,440
No!

335
00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:17,760
Please, please, please!

336
00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:19,760
INDISTINCT INSTRUCTIONS

337
00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:38,720
Basically, our role was to deal with
the local community.

338
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:41,440
And we were encouraged
to persuade them

339
00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:44,280
to set up their own
emergency community.

340
00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:50,440
ARCHIVE: No parish in England, it's
claimed, is so organised as Worthen.

341
00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:53,520
For, in the event of a nuclear
attack in the industrial midlands,

342
00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:55,520
the people here in the backwoods

343
00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:58,040
intend to be entirely
self-sufficient.

344
00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:01,080
Their headquarters
is in the hamlet of Hope.

345
00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:03,960
The Emergency Planning Committee
should perhaps be better known

346
00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:05,600
as the Band of Hope.

347
00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:09,320
In the event of an explosion,

348
00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:14,960
we shall immediately make for
our underground support centre.

349
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:19,000
From there, we will then
operate our survival plans.

350
00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:24,720
This is the main communications
and administrative centre

351
00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:26,160
for the parish.

352
00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:28,360
What, it's an underground cellar
of a big house?

353
00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:31,640
It is, yes. You haven't got
much equipment in yet, have you?

354
00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:33,400
Not at present.
So, there's not...

355
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:35,000
There's no equipment here now.

356
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,120
But I am assured from county level

357
00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:39,760
that there will be plenty
of equipment available

358
00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:41,120
should the need arise.

359
00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:43,120
Is it radiation-proof,
this cellar, do you think?

360
00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:47,160
I'm led to believe that it has
a very high radiation proof factor.

361
00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:49,320
You're going to have to block
the window up, won't you?

362
00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:51,440
Yes, this will be sandbagged.

363
00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:57,120
We would also take advantage

364
00:31:57,120 --> 00:31:59,720
if there were farmers
in the community

365
00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:01,800
and what they could provide.

366
00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:06,080
In the event of a nuclear explosion,

367
00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:09,880
you'll be in charge
of law and order? Yes.

368
00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:11,640
What will you be doing?

369
00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:16,680
Erm...

370
00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:21,560
..finding about 40 strong men
to keep the order.

371
00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:23,200
Strong men? Strong men, yes.

372
00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:26,640
You'll be picking the big fellas?
Big fellas, yes, the big fellas.

373
00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:32,480
If disaster strikes,

374
00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:35,840
quite suddenly, you could be
faced with the need

375
00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:37,680
to leave home in a hurry.

376
00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:42,120
And if this happened, you would want
to take a few things with you.

377
00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:45,080
Well, we advise a blanket pack.
It gives you...

378
00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:49,480
The Women's Institute -
a wonderful body of women.

379
00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:55,000
And they were obviously a very ripe
recruiting ground

380
00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:57,160
for people who would organise.

381
00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:00,920
They don't just bake cakes.

382
00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:06,960
I think I'd like to hear your ideas
about what you would think

383
00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:09,920
was necessary to put in
this blanket pack.

384
00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:12,600
Change of clothing.
Yes, indeed.

385
00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:16,960
A change of clothing.
And sensible clothing, please.

386
00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:18,760
And of course,
a change of clothing

387
00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:21,800
means a change of underwear
and pyjamas.

388
00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:25,800
Much better than a nightie.
Anything else?

389
00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:28,200
I think I'd like to take
some make-up.

390
00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:31,400
Yes, I would agree with you.
Not too much, certainly.

391
00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:34,200
But it's a great
morale booster, make-up.

392
00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:36,120
So a little bit of make-up

393
00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:39,760
and I would think some tissues
to take with you.

394
00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:42,840
And there we have the blanket pack.

395
00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:44,280
I think you'll agree,

396
00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:47,720
you could walk quite a distance
with that, couldn't you?

397
00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:01,240
BEEPING

398
00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:04,440
There was this Government scheme

399
00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:09,040
whereby little boxes were scattered
around the country.

400
00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:18,360
If the beeps stopped,
you knew you were in trouble.

401
00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:29,000
If you happen to be having a quiet
drink in the Bull's Head at Monyash

402
00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:32,200
when the Russians decide
to attack, then you can relax

403
00:34:32,200 --> 00:34:34,920
in the knowledge that you are
at the centre of one of Britain's

404
00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:36,680
nuclear defence systems.

405
00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:39,160
And this is the reason -

406
00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:41,840
Derbyshire Police
have installed here in the pub

407
00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:45,880
an early warning system, which is
operated by landlord Decio Tettanni.

408
00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:49,400
Decio, have you got any idea
what that thing is supposed to do?

409
00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:51,400
Well, it's supposed to...

410
00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:55,240
The police are supposed to let me
know that the Russia are coming,

411
00:34:55,240 --> 00:34:58,600
then I got about 50 minutes
to warn the village.

412
00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:01,440
But what are the instructions you've
been given about this thing?

413
00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:03,040
Well, very little.

414
00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:06,520
Here is this warning -
red air attack warning.

415
00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:09,000
Standby for verbal message.

416
00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:11,400
But most of the time,
you've got the machine turned off -

417
00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:13,800
what use is that?
Well, I don't know.

418
00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:18,000
You know, I mean, like I say,
I haven't got enough information to,

419
00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:20,720
you know, to handle it properly.

420
00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:26,760
Well, if you think that sounds
crazy, then listen to this.

421
00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:29,800
They haven't yet sent Decio
his warning siren.

422
00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:33,840
This is how he warns the rest of
the villagers of Monyash.

423
00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:44,080
The Russia are coming!
The Russia are coming!

424
00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:53,960
Some of the plans that we wrote
really did defy description

425
00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:58,760
and looked very good on the page,
but in terms of their actual

426
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:02,120
practical worth, is very doubtful.

427
00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:12,760
I think that the principal
challenges were probably trying

428
00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:16,280
to persuade people that what
we were doing was actually

429
00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:18,240
a worthwhile exercise.

430
00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:29,800
If anyone dies while you are
kept in your fallout room,

431
00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:34,640
move the body to another room
in the house, label the body

432
00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:38,840
with name and address and
cover it as tightly as possible

433
00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:41,880
in polythene, paper,
sheets or blankets.

434
00:36:41,880 --> 00:36:45,440
Tie a second card to the covering.

435
00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:47,480
The radio will advise you what to do

436
00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:50,320
about taking the body
away for burial.

437
00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:54,720
If, however, you have had a body
in the house

438
00:36:54,720 --> 00:36:56,600
for more than five days,

439
00:36:56,600 --> 00:37:01,320
and if it is safe to go outside,
then you should bury the body

440
00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:04,920
for the time being in a trench
or cover it with earth,

441
00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:07,160
and mark the spot of the burial.

442
00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:16,920
That's it.

443
00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:22,400
Ken and Liz Macdonald are
digging a hole in the garden.

444
00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:26,760
What they're digging is
a government recommended

445
00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:28,520
do-it-yourself fallout shelter.

446
00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:35,720
More details are given in
the booklet Protect and Survive.

447
00:37:35,720 --> 00:37:39,440
If you haven't got one yet, get one
from the Post Office now,

448
00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:43,560
and start right away
making your home and your family

449
00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:46,240
as safe as possible
from nuclear attack.

450
00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:50,040
What about this lobby
outside the study?

451
00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:52,680
That would be big enough for us,
wouldn't it? Good idea, yes.

452
00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:01,000
Just about the right size.
We could block it off here.

453
00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:03,240
Yes, we could block it off here.
Take out this board.

454
00:38:03,240 --> 00:38:05,240
Take that out there.

455
00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:09,240
Block up this door.
Yes.

456
00:38:09,240 --> 00:38:10,840
Yes.

457
00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:13,840
We'd be able to sleep down here.
Yes.

458
00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:16,440
A concrete support there,
concrete roof.

459
00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:19,080
That's all right. No problems.

460
00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:31,280
Newspapers and other combustibles
should be thrown away.

461
00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:36,640
Buckets of water should be kept
handy for putting out fires.

462
00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:42,440
And windows should be whitewashed
to reflect the heat flash.

463
00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:48,120
Grab that table over there,
Andrew.

464
00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:03,560
Right - now, do you think
that's all right? Yes.

465
00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:06,240
These things may also come in handy.

466
00:39:06,240 --> 00:39:11,080
Hammer, saw, screwdriver,
string or thin rope.

467
00:39:15,240 --> 00:39:17,920
I didn't really realise
how dangerous

468
00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:20,640
a possible nuclear war would be.

469
00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:23,200
And then things came on the news,

470
00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:26,200
there'd be things happening
in the world,

471
00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:30,400
and you thought,
this could end up nasty.

472
00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:39,680
I left school when I was 17
and started working.

473
00:39:39,680 --> 00:39:43,200
I was working in
the accounts department

474
00:39:43,200 --> 00:39:45,600
of a large department store
in Leeds,

475
00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:49,640
and I thought it would be
a good idea to join

476
00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:53,080
a large youth club that had
plenty of activities.

477
00:39:54,640 --> 00:39:56,480
And a girl at work said,

478
00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:58,640
"Why don't you come to the ROC
with me?"

479
00:39:58,640 --> 00:40:02,200
"I've never heard of the ROC.
So, what is it?"

480
00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:04,080
"Royal Observer Corps."

481
00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:06,800
"So what do you do?"

482
00:40:06,800 --> 00:40:09,360
"Well, we plot nuclear bombs

483
00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:12,840
"and the path of the radiation
fallout from them.

484
00:40:12,840 --> 00:40:14,680
"It's ever so good."

485
00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:20,560
So, I did. I joined.

486
00:40:27,160 --> 00:40:29,080
I can remember getting there

487
00:40:29,080 --> 00:40:33,160
and just feeling that it was
such a huge place.

488
00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:40,760
That's a ground burst.
And it's a big one.

489
00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:44,600
This great big ops room
that had a balcony round it.

490
00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:48,040
And there seemed to be quite
a lot of people there.

491
00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:51,760
And I thought, oh, I think
I'm going to like this.

492
00:40:53,360 --> 00:40:58,320
It was like, um, a little
tiny town underground.

493
00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:06,600
When you first joined,
virtually everybody started

494
00:41:06,600 --> 00:41:08,200
on the display boards.

495
00:41:09,880 --> 00:41:14,600
10 Post, 10 Post,
can you hear me, 10 Post?

496
00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:17,880
So every five minutes,
the boards would be turned round.

497
00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:20,200
ON RADIO: Spot size, 08.

498
00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:24,680
Spot size, 08.
Thank you, 10 Post.

499
00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:26,960
They would be in contact
with the posts...

500
00:41:29,240 --> 00:41:34,040
..which are the small bunkers
that were out in the countryside.

501
00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:42,800
There were 872 scattered over
the whole of the British Isles.

502
00:41:46,160 --> 00:41:50,360
The general public didn't know
where these buildings were.

503
00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:55,480
They'd see a little concrete box
in a field.

504
00:41:57,240 --> 00:41:59,080
They hadn't a clue.

505
00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:08,240
INDISTINCT RADIO MESSAGES
OVERLAPPING

506
00:42:20,240 --> 00:42:24,480
There were certain instruments
above ground.

507
00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:31,960
The bomb power indicator
was like two metal discs together,

508
00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:36,600
one above the other,
and it would record a blast,

509
00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:38,680
because when a bomb went off,

510
00:42:38,680 --> 00:42:41,040
it was like dropping a pebble
into a pool,

511
00:42:41,040 --> 00:42:43,760
it would have ripples coming out,

512
00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:46,200
and it would record these ripples.

513
00:42:46,200 --> 00:42:48,200
1.0, thank you.

514
00:42:53,720 --> 00:42:57,360
This man... That's it! ..and 11,000
highly trained volunteers

515
00:42:57,360 --> 00:42:59,000
of the Royal Observer Corps

516
00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:00,760
will be on duty to handle
the emergency.

517
00:43:00,760 --> 00:43:03,200
How's that, then, Bill? That's fine.

518
00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:05,400
In the event
of a nuclear attack on Britain,

519
00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:07,320
what could a man like Bill do?

520
00:43:07,320 --> 00:43:09,080
If anything was going to happen,

521
00:43:09,080 --> 00:43:11,560
I'd be on my way to this
monitoring post, same as today.

522
00:43:11,560 --> 00:43:13,960
But there wouldn't be much time
to take in the view.

523
00:43:13,960 --> 00:43:16,240
The Royal Observer Corps
man over 800

524
00:43:16,240 --> 00:43:17,960
of these protected
monitoring posts,

525
00:43:17,960 --> 00:43:20,720
and nowhere in Britain are you
more than a few miles from one.

526
00:43:20,720 --> 00:43:23,280
Three of us run Number 10 Post.

527
00:43:23,280 --> 00:43:25,200
And it's linked,
like all the others,

528
00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:26,600
to one of 25 group controls.

529
00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:28,280
BEEPING

530
00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:30,880
That's a very reassuring sound.

531
00:43:30,880 --> 00:43:32,320
But what would happen if...

532
00:43:32,320 --> 00:43:35,640
ALARM BLARES

533
00:43:38,600 --> 00:43:40,920
Oh, it's exciting when it starts.

534
00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:44,720
I always looked forward
to exercises.

535
00:43:44,720 --> 00:43:47,600
Toxin, 40 Post. Toxin, 40 Post.

536
00:43:47,600 --> 00:43:51,320
Somebody would shout,
they'd go, "Toxin!"

537
00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:56,840
and whatever post had recorded it,
so that the whole room was alerted

538
00:43:56,840 --> 00:44:00,560
that this was the beginning
of an attack.

539
00:44:00,560 --> 00:44:06,480
Message begins. 15 spaces,
letters Hotel Moscow Romeo...

540
00:44:06,480 --> 00:44:09,760
Then it went into a higher gear.

541
00:44:09,760 --> 00:44:11,920
Everybody was sort of, "This is it!"

542
00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:16,200
Now we start properly, you know,
and we'd be plotting the bombs

543
00:44:16,200 --> 00:44:20,200
and then all the radiation reports
started coming through.

544
00:44:20,200 --> 00:44:22,280
10 Post. 10 Post.

545
00:44:36,040 --> 00:44:37,920
I have two children, two boys.

546
00:44:39,840 --> 00:44:43,080
We were always faced
with this question,

547
00:44:43,080 --> 00:44:44,800
if there was a nuclear war,

548
00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:49,280
you were expected to go in full-time
if there was an emergency.

549
00:44:50,480 --> 00:44:53,800
And that meant leaving
your family behind.

550
00:44:53,800 --> 00:44:57,360
And you had to think about that.
Would you really do it?

551
00:45:01,240 --> 00:45:03,920
But I was prepared
to leave my children.

552
00:45:06,400 --> 00:45:10,560
Hoping that there was no explosion
near them,

553
00:45:10,560 --> 00:45:13,560
because you'd want
your family to be...

554
00:45:13,560 --> 00:45:14,840
I know it sounds awful,

555
00:45:14,840 --> 00:45:17,960
you'd want your family to go,
to be wiped out,

556
00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:22,000
rather than die slowly
of radiation sickness.

557
00:45:26,080 --> 00:45:28,800
It would be hard
to leave your children.

558
00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:30,800
But if everybody decided

559
00:45:30,800 --> 00:45:34,200
they weren't going to leave
their families,

560
00:45:34,200 --> 00:45:39,360
then there would have been no Royal
Observer Corps to protect anybody.

561
00:45:43,360 --> 00:45:46,160
I was lucky - I never had
to make that decision.

562
00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:54,840
RADIO STATIC

563
00:45:59,200 --> 00:46:02,640
If you have taken the advice
we've been giving you recently,

564
00:46:02,640 --> 00:46:06,040
you will by now have chosen
your fallout room.

565
00:46:06,040 --> 00:46:08,120
So don't waste time.

566
00:46:08,120 --> 00:46:11,280
Start right away
making your home and your family

567
00:46:11,280 --> 00:46:14,400
as safe as possible
from nuclear attack.

568
00:46:21,960 --> 00:46:26,480
One day when my young lad
said to me,

569
00:46:26,480 --> 00:46:29,480
"Dad, I won't live to 21, will I?",

570
00:46:29,480 --> 00:46:31,480
I said, "Why?"

571
00:46:31,480 --> 00:46:33,120
He said, "The nuclear war."

572
00:46:36,080 --> 00:46:39,400
I looked at him and I thought,

573
00:46:39,400 --> 00:46:42,040
"Oh, dear, I better get
a nuclear shelter."

574
00:46:48,320 --> 00:46:50,880
So I learnt about it...

575
00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:55,400
..purchased the equipment
to build it.

576
00:46:56,520 --> 00:47:01,440
We got a metre of earth to cover
the top, which obviously reduces

577
00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:04,160
the level of radiation
that you get in the shelter.

578
00:47:07,240 --> 00:47:11,280
There weren't many
individual people had a shelter.

579
00:47:13,680 --> 00:47:17,600
Then I thought, "Well, we could
do this for other people."

580
00:47:17,600 --> 00:47:19,600
So I produced a pamphlet on it...

581
00:47:21,760 --> 00:47:25,720
..and then we advertised it
and marketed it.

582
00:47:27,480 --> 00:47:32,880
And as the years went on,
I then became who I am...

583
00:47:35,040 --> 00:47:38,720
..the most knowledgeable
shelter builder in the country.

584
00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:47,920
There are now about 30 firms who
will sell and install for you

585
00:47:47,920 --> 00:47:51,280
a purpose-built nuclear shelter
in any combination of steel,

586
00:47:51,280 --> 00:47:53,040
fibreglass and concrete.

587
00:47:53,040 --> 00:47:57,680
The amount you pay depends on size,
sophistication and level of comfort.

588
00:47:57,680 --> 00:48:00,600
Most are between £8,000 and £20,000.

589
00:48:14,760 --> 00:48:17,280
airtight behind massive steel doors.

590
00:48:19,160 --> 00:48:21,760
Filtered air is pumped in
by turning a hand crank for

591
00:48:21,760 --> 00:48:23,520
15 minutes every hour.

592
00:48:26,320 --> 00:48:32,200
Running water from a self-contained
tank, ample storage space for food

593
00:48:32,200 --> 00:48:35,480
and a proper flush lavatory
complete the facilities.

594
00:48:40,720 --> 00:48:44,640
His firm now have the plans and
equipment to produce three types,

595
00:48:44,640 --> 00:48:46,760
from the small
family unit like this,

596
00:48:46,760 --> 00:48:49,200
costing between £5,000 and 10,000,

597
00:48:49,200 --> 00:48:52,520
up to a shelter big enough
to take whole communities.

598
00:48:57,640 --> 00:49:01,120
The idea is to have
a viable community.

599
00:49:01,120 --> 00:49:04,560
It's got to be
full of useful people.

600
00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:08,280
And that in fact
has been taken care of.

601
00:49:08,280 --> 00:49:12,760
We know exactly what people
we have got to put in the shelter.

602
00:49:12,760 --> 00:49:14,880
Are you deliberately
turning any way?

603
00:49:14,880 --> 00:49:16,280
Erm...

604
00:49:16,280 --> 00:49:19,680
Who you think might not be useful?
Yes.

605
00:49:19,680 --> 00:49:22,880
There is a selection process,
there has to be, yes.

606
00:49:25,280 --> 00:49:27,680
It didn't matter where
you lived in those days.

607
00:49:29,320 --> 00:49:32,720
Everywhere and everyone
was a potential target.

608
00:49:38,160 --> 00:49:39,480
Good evening.

609
00:49:39,480 --> 00:49:42,640
We're going to begin tonight
by asking two questions -

610
00:49:42,640 --> 00:49:45,720
how would we and our families react
if ever Britain was involved

611
00:49:45,720 --> 00:49:49,400
in a nuclear war? And how much
is being done by the Government

612
00:49:49,400 --> 00:49:52,160
to protect us all if a
nuclear war should happen?

613
00:49:56,960 --> 00:50:00,240
I mean, you hear about things every
day on the news that make you think

614
00:50:00,240 --> 00:50:02,480
even more is coming.

615
00:50:02,480 --> 00:50:03,920
The war is coming.

616
00:50:11,440 --> 00:50:12,600
You've 'ad it, ain't ya?

617
00:50:13,920 --> 00:50:17,120
Had it, ain't ya? Will you
take any preparations at all?

618
00:50:17,120 --> 00:50:20,440
What preparations? You've 'ad it,
ain't ya? You've 'ad it, ain't ya?

619
00:50:20,440 --> 00:50:23,880
Ain't messing about, is it?
You've 'ad it, ain't ya?

620
00:50:23,880 --> 00:50:26,040
Don't get much
crying over spilt milk, is it?

621
00:50:30,240 --> 00:50:31,600
If the call to arms came,

622
00:50:31,600 --> 00:50:34,240
it would be answered by civilians
who'd become soldiers

623
00:50:34,240 --> 00:50:36,520
in just two hours.

624
00:50:36,520 --> 00:50:39,880
Men like Nigel Crooks
from Bourton-on-the-Water.

625
00:50:41,320 --> 00:50:43,960
The haircuts may make
a drill sergeant weep,

626
00:50:43,960 --> 00:50:48,160
but these civilians are still
technically soldiers on standby.

627
00:50:53,120 --> 00:50:57,680
Suddenly, the Army was training
people in nuclear warfare...

628
00:50:58,960 --> 00:51:01,320
..and how to protect yourself.

629
00:51:05,640 --> 00:51:08,720
We weren't frightened because
we felt that we were protected

630
00:51:08,720 --> 00:51:10,280
in some way or other.

631
00:51:12,840 --> 00:51:17,960
Now let's join our combat team,
Alpha Combat Team, who've already

632
00:51:17,960 --> 00:51:19,880
been on the go for some 24 hours.

633
00:51:22,200 --> 00:51:23,560
A surprise attack.

634
00:51:23,560 --> 00:51:26,920
You had a suit you had to wear.

635
00:51:26,920 --> 00:51:30,360
You carried a gas mask -
or a respirator as we called them -

636
00:51:30,360 --> 00:51:33,640
and you were trained
to fight in that condition.

637
00:51:38,400 --> 00:51:43,320
And not only fight, do your job,
but look after yourself, too.

638
00:51:44,640 --> 00:51:48,040
There's nothing worse than
having to remove certain things

639
00:51:48,040 --> 00:51:50,000
to be able to eat or drink.

640
00:51:51,200 --> 00:51:53,640
Having decontaminated your gloves,

641
00:51:53,640 --> 00:51:54,960
open the bottle...

642
00:51:56,640 --> 00:52:00,040
..hold your breath
and close your eyes,

643
00:52:00,040 --> 00:52:02,800
rapidly lift the mask and swallow...

644
00:52:04,000 --> 00:52:06,120
..replace the mask,

645
00:52:06,120 --> 00:52:09,680
and blow out hard to clear
any vapour from the respirator.

646
00:52:11,320 --> 00:52:13,120
It was really quite tricky.

647
00:52:15,200 --> 00:52:21,320
The suits were double thickness
with a, like a carbon impregnation.

648
00:52:21,320 --> 00:52:25,520
And it was all to protect you
against nuclear radiation.

649
00:52:25,520 --> 00:52:29,960
The air reading.
Good, now check for clothing.

650
00:52:29,960 --> 00:52:33,160
Although, frankly,
whether it did or not,

651
00:52:33,160 --> 00:52:34,560
nobody ever knew.

652
00:52:37,200 --> 00:52:41,760
Sleep, when you can get it,
requires the buddy-buddy technique.

653
00:52:41,760 --> 00:52:44,320
Your buddy keeps watch
while you sleep,

654
00:52:44,320 --> 00:52:48,840
in case your respirator slips
and exposes you to vapour.

655
00:52:48,840 --> 00:52:51,680
Later, he can rest
while you keep watch.

656
00:52:54,080 --> 00:52:58,000
"Oh, God," you may think. "Do
we have to go through all this?"

657
00:52:58,000 --> 00:53:02,440
Yes, you must. And get used to it
for days on end.

658
00:53:02,440 --> 00:53:05,800
Fail to practise, and you'll die
when it comes to the real test.

659
00:53:05,800 --> 00:53:07,560
It's just as simple as that.

660
00:53:10,680 --> 00:53:12,920
The training was quite severe.

661
00:53:16,120 --> 00:53:19,200
It made you wonder sometimes whether
it was all worth it or not.

662
00:53:19,200 --> 00:53:21,880
But of course, if you're going
to survive,

663
00:53:21,880 --> 00:53:23,760
that's the way to survive.

664
00:53:23,760 --> 00:53:27,040
There was that serious
element of it - what if?

665
00:53:27,040 --> 00:53:28,760
What if?

666
00:53:41,280 --> 00:53:45,920
BREATHING BEHIND RESPIRATOR

667
00:53:59,640 --> 00:54:02,800
FAINT BROADCAST IN RUSSIAN

668
00:55:08,480 --> 00:55:11,520
System report now,
system report now.

669
00:55:11,520 --> 00:55:13,720
The situation there
has been made more difficult

670
00:55:13,720 --> 00:55:17,000
because of those folk
who have ignored Government requests

671
00:55:17,000 --> 00:55:21,040
to stay in their homes and who have
flooded in to the county.

672
00:55:21,040 --> 00:55:23,680
Level 1. Roger.

673
00:55:25,560 --> 00:55:28,200
11 missiles are on their way,

674
00:55:28,200 --> 00:55:30,720
7.8 minutes to impact.

675
00:55:32,680 --> 00:55:37,080
HUBBUB IN CONTROL ROOM

676
00:55:37,080 --> 00:55:40,960
ALARMS BLARE

677
00:55:43,080 --> 00:55:46,200
Within an hour? Do we know whether
it's a ground burst or an air burst?

678
00:55:46,200 --> 00:55:49,920
We don't know yet. We don't really
know the full details yet.

679
00:55:49,920 --> 00:55:51,840
We're just guessing.

680
00:55:51,840 --> 00:55:55,040
PHONE RINGS

681
00:56:00,280 --> 00:56:05,200
Attack warning, red.
Attack warning, red.

682
00:56:05,200 --> 00:56:09,400
13 missiles tracked,
six seconds to impact.

683
00:56:10,960 --> 00:56:13,040
ALARM BLARES

684
00:56:15,160 --> 00:56:17,560
Your message received
and understood.

685
00:56:21,120 --> 00:56:24,240
ALARM BLARES

686
00:56:28,240 --> 00:56:31,160
This is the wartime
broadcasting service.

687
00:56:31,160 --> 00:56:34,760
This country has been attacked
with nuclear weapons.

688
00:56:34,760 --> 00:56:38,320
We shall bring you further
information as soon as possible.

689
00:56:38,320 --> 00:56:41,560
Meanwhile, stay tuned
to this wavelength,

690
00:56:41,560 --> 00:56:45,680
stay calm and stay
in your own house.

691
00:56:45,680 --> 00:56:49,320
Remember, there's nothing
to be gained by trying to get away.

692
00:56:59,840 --> 00:57:01,200
The Russia are coming.

693
00:57:01,200 --> 00:57:04,600
The Russia are coming.
The Russia are coming.

694
00:57:04,600 --> 00:57:06,200
The Russia are coming.

695
00:57:26,560 --> 00:57:29,560
CLOCK TICKS

696
00:57:35,240 --> 00:57:39,160
WIND BLOWS

697
00:57:44,680 --> 00:57:47,880
EXPLOSION

698
00:58:00,320 --> 00:58:04,360
I sometimes really think
that I've been left alive

699
00:58:04,360 --> 00:58:06,480
to continue this story.

700
00:58:19,360 --> 00:58:23,720
The remarks I'm going to make now
are not remarks that we were

701
00:58:23,720 --> 00:58:25,200
aware of at the time.

702
00:58:26,280 --> 00:58:28,760
We were totally innocent
of the fact...

703
00:58:30,200 --> 00:58:34,280
..that there was a high, very high
probability that what we were

704
00:58:34,280 --> 00:58:36,440
eating, what we were drinking...

705
00:58:37,640 --> 00:58:39,640
..and what we were swimming in...

706
00:58:42,200 --> 00:58:45,680
..what we were kicking up
when we were playing sports,

707
00:58:45,680 --> 00:58:49,240
had been contaminated
and was radioactive.

708
00:58:49,240 --> 00:58:50,440
We had no idea.

709
00:58:56,840 --> 00:59:02,040
Now, the decontamination crews
and the scientists in their normal

710
00:59:02,040 --> 00:59:07,040
operation during the day were always
in white suits with respirators

711
00:59:07,040 --> 00:59:10,840
and hoods, and the same
went for the crews

712
00:59:10,840 --> 00:59:12,280
that did the clean down.

713
00:59:18,520 --> 00:59:21,560
We never had any
decontamination whatsoever.

714
00:59:21,560 --> 00:59:24,400
We had local showers
which were used,

715
00:59:24,400 --> 00:59:27,640
and we understand
that they were sea water.

716
00:59:27,640 --> 00:59:29,320
They weren't fresh water.

717
00:59:30,440 --> 00:59:34,840
I do remember being...having a
Geiger counter thingy wafted over me

718
00:59:34,840 --> 00:59:37,320
because it made bleeping noises.

719
00:59:37,320 --> 00:59:41,480
So I was sent back to have another
shower and wafted again.

720
00:59:41,480 --> 00:59:44,520
I think I was sent back twice
before they let me go.

721
00:59:51,200 --> 00:59:52,800
But when they let me go...

722
00:59:54,440 --> 00:59:58,360
..I was given a dressing gown-type
cloak to wear and told to go and get

723
00:59:58,360 --> 01:00:00,560
a new set of clothes
from the stores.

724
01:00:00,560 --> 01:00:03,680
The clothes I'd been wearing,
never saw again.

725
01:00:31,000 --> 01:00:36,000
By the time we got to the next
detonation, our so-called

726
01:00:36,000 --> 01:00:38,680
protective clothing had changed,

727
01:00:38,680 --> 01:00:41,720
down to flip flops,
shorts and a bush hat.

728
01:00:43,240 --> 01:00:45,880
And that's how we viewed
the last bomb.

729
01:00:49,840 --> 01:00:51,720
EXPLOSION

730
01:01:00,640 --> 01:01:02,840
Three days after that detonation,

731
01:01:02,840 --> 01:01:05,080
I was told I was going home
on a plane.

732
01:01:07,320 --> 01:01:10,360
We were forbidden to talk
about anything.

733
01:01:27,480 --> 01:01:31,280
Yeah, I got married
in the October - '58.

734
01:01:32,440 --> 01:01:34,480
And...

735
01:01:34,480 --> 01:01:38,440
..my first daughter
was born in the March...

736
01:01:40,240 --> 01:01:42,320
..of '60,

737
01:01:42,320 --> 01:01:44,720
and she appeared quite normal.

738
01:01:46,720 --> 01:01:48,400
And then Jill was born...

739
01:01:49,960 --> 01:01:51,440
..'62.

740
01:02:02,840 --> 01:02:06,000
At that time, I had a fishing boat

741
01:02:06,000 --> 01:02:08,080
and she loved coming out...

742
01:02:09,480 --> 01:02:15,640
..when I was fishing or if I was
going up the rivers doing anything.

743
01:02:15,640 --> 01:02:18,240
She was always on the water
with me.

744
01:02:20,720 --> 01:02:24,800
She was quite normal
until she got to 11 years old.

745
01:02:26,800 --> 01:02:29,840
And then we noticed the
physical change in her.

746
01:02:33,240 --> 01:02:36,720
She grew a hump on her back
and then started to develop

747
01:02:36,720 --> 01:02:37,960
hair all over.

748
01:02:42,560 --> 01:02:47,160
We were having to shave her
twice a day if we were going out.

749
01:02:48,720 --> 01:02:50,600
We took her to the doctors.

750
01:02:52,800 --> 01:02:54,680
And I would say within...

751
01:02:56,080 --> 01:02:59,280
..two hours of attending
the surgery,

752
01:02:59,280 --> 01:03:02,440
we were in an ambulance
under police escort to a

753
01:03:02,440 --> 01:03:04,120
children's hospital in Nottingham.

754
01:03:05,800 --> 01:03:07,840
And she was there 17 weeks.

755
01:03:13,200 --> 01:03:16,800
I was told she'd got the rarest
form of cancer there was.

756
01:03:40,160 --> 01:03:43,360
Within ten years of coming
back from Christmas Island,

757
01:03:43,360 --> 01:03:47,120
I'd lost half my thyroid,
which is one of the glands

758
01:03:47,120 --> 01:03:48,920
susceptible to radiation.

759
01:03:52,600 --> 01:03:56,280
When I got home, my parents
said I didn't look well.

760
01:03:58,200 --> 01:04:00,480
A skin rash on my face.

761
01:04:00,480 --> 01:04:01,680
It would bleed.

762
01:04:03,280 --> 01:04:09,800
When they first examined me, the two
doctors looking through my notes

763
01:04:09,800 --> 01:04:13,640
said, "Oh, yes,
he's been to Christmas Island.

764
01:04:13,640 --> 01:04:15,360
"We better have a good look at him."

765
01:04:16,680 --> 01:04:20,200
And I had cancer on my face
and also on my back.

766
01:04:23,240 --> 01:04:26,320
A surgeon operated on me
and he said,

767
01:04:26,320 --> 01:04:28,440
"I've never seen anything like it."

768
01:04:28,440 --> 01:04:31,960
He described it as like
a bunch of berries,

769
01:04:31,960 --> 01:04:34,760
but it was swelling
as big as a melon, really.

770
01:04:34,760 --> 01:04:37,520
As big as a melon, I could rest
my elbow on it.

771
01:04:39,720 --> 01:04:40,880
I had colon cancer.

772
01:04:42,320 --> 01:04:44,160
I was in hospital for three months.

773
01:04:45,840 --> 01:04:49,480
I had the surgery, having my colon
chopped about.

774
01:04:49,480 --> 01:04:51,880
Only got a third of me colon left.

775
01:04:51,880 --> 01:04:53,960
The rest was thrown in the bin.

776
01:04:56,520 --> 01:05:00,960
You know, years down the line, all
the evidence and everything else,

777
01:05:00,960 --> 01:05:04,320
now we realise that
we weren't taken care of.

778
01:05:07,280 --> 01:05:09,000
I put it all together, you know,

779
01:05:09,000 --> 01:05:11,480
and when you think,
"Well, I can't go wrong.

780
01:05:11,480 --> 01:05:15,600
"If I go with all this evidence to
a tribunal, they should accept

781
01:05:15,600 --> 01:05:19,520
"it's probably all due to the fact
I was on Christmas Island."

782
01:05:19,520 --> 01:05:22,080
But no, I was turned down.

783
01:05:22,080 --> 01:05:26,120
I have to prove beyond all
reasonable doubt that my injuries

784
01:05:26,120 --> 01:05:27,360
were caused by...

785
01:05:28,960 --> 01:05:32,520
..radiation, but I couldn't
really prove it.

786
01:05:32,520 --> 01:05:34,480
And that was the problem.

787
01:05:35,920 --> 01:05:37,640
It was worse than negligence.

788
01:05:37,640 --> 01:05:40,520
They knew full well
what they were doing.

789
01:05:41,640 --> 01:05:45,640
They sent us to that island
to suffer the effects.

790
01:05:52,000 --> 01:05:56,640
Someone in the MoD declassified
certain documents,

791
01:05:56,640 --> 01:05:58,760
through ignorance, I would imagine.

792
01:05:58,760 --> 01:06:03,320
But in this document,
it's all quite detailed

793
01:06:03,320 --> 01:06:07,800
and it's from May 20th, 1953.

794
01:06:07,800 --> 01:06:13,920
And it's to the Chiefs of Staff
Committee. It says quite clearly

795
01:06:13,920 --> 01:06:18,840
that the Army must discover the
detailed effects of various types

796
01:06:18,840 --> 01:06:23,000
of explosion on equipment,
stores and men,

797
01:06:23,000 --> 01:06:26,240
both with and without various
types of protection.

798
01:06:31,800 --> 01:06:35,800
Now, whatever protection
that means, I don't know.

799
01:06:37,840 --> 01:06:41,320
There was no protection
as far as we were concerned.

800
01:06:41,320 --> 01:06:43,320
So we were the guinea pigs.

801
01:06:45,760 --> 01:06:47,880
Nobody understands our story.

802
01:06:49,200 --> 01:06:54,120
Even in our own country, people
haven't a clue as to what we did.

803
01:07:00,560 --> 01:07:04,000
I did a full 22 years in the Army.

804
01:07:04,000 --> 01:07:06,880
And when I left, I put it in a box
and put the lid on.

805
01:07:08,320 --> 01:07:09,720
You've got to.

806
01:07:20,320 --> 01:07:25,600
Time went on and I found out
that I couldn't have children.

807
01:07:31,440 --> 01:07:34,360
Maybe it was just as well
we didn't have any children.

808
01:07:34,360 --> 01:07:40,160
I'm very sorry to say that, but
that's the case because I do know...

809
01:07:41,720 --> 01:07:45,040
..of some people who've
had very difficult problems

810
01:07:45,040 --> 01:07:46,680
with their children.

811
01:07:55,880 --> 01:07:57,960
Jill, she never complained.

812
01:07:59,120 --> 01:08:00,560
We never saw her cry.

813
01:08:01,760 --> 01:08:04,400
She just took everything
in her stride.

814
01:08:07,040 --> 01:08:09,800
I think it was within five days
they operated on her.

815
01:08:11,680 --> 01:08:16,920
And the wound that they clipped
together ran right the way

816
01:08:16,920 --> 01:08:20,760
round the body from one side
of her spine to the other.

817
01:08:29,960 --> 01:08:34,440
I sometimes slept down on the floor
beside her, just to be with her...

818
01:08:36,600 --> 01:08:39,040
..and talk to her when she woke up.

819
01:08:41,600 --> 01:08:46,800
They used to take her away
every day for about two hours

820
01:08:46,800 --> 01:08:49,360
and they wouldn't let us
come with them.

821
01:08:51,000 --> 01:08:52,440
And I said to Jill,

822
01:08:52,440 --> 01:08:54,440
"What are they doing
when you go away?

823
01:08:54,440 --> 01:08:57,160
"Are you getting treatment?"

824
01:08:57,160 --> 01:08:59,440
She said, "No, Dad,
it's a lot of rooms,

825
01:08:59,440 --> 01:09:03,320
"a lot of people talking,
and they photograph me.

826
01:09:05,720 --> 01:09:08,120
"They take all my clothes off
and photograph me."

827
01:09:10,960 --> 01:09:12,800
I did approach the doctor.

828
01:09:13,880 --> 01:09:18,200
He said, "Well, there's nothing in
the annals of medical history

829
01:09:18,200 --> 01:09:22,400
"regarding this disease."
He said, "We've got to look at it."

830
01:09:23,640 --> 01:09:26,480
And I took that as
a reasonable answer.

831
01:09:31,760 --> 01:09:35,600
She came home later on in that year
to have Christmas at home.

832
01:09:38,640 --> 01:09:42,280
But, sadly enough, she just left us.

833
01:09:42,280 --> 01:09:44,720
She was in my arms when she died.

834
01:09:51,840 --> 01:09:54,880
Looking back over the way
she was treated...

835
01:09:58,000 --> 01:10:02,320
..there were areas of time
that she was not a patient,

836
01:10:02,320 --> 01:10:04,840
she was an object to be studied.

837
01:10:12,760 --> 01:10:14,680
Jill used to love music.

838
01:10:16,600 --> 01:10:21,280
And there was one song
we always sang for her,

839
01:10:21,280 --> 01:10:24,400
and that was
Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain.

840
01:10:24,400 --> 01:10:27,400
That was one of her favourite songs.

841
01:10:27,400 --> 01:10:28,480
Yeah.

842
01:10:33,960 --> 01:10:41,760
# In the twilight glow I see her

843
01:10:44,040 --> 01:10:50,680
# Blue eyes cryin' in the rain

844
01:10:53,920 --> 01:11:01,440
# And when we kissed goodbye
and parted

845
01:11:03,760 --> 01:11:10,320
# I knew I'd never meet again

846
01:11:13,080 --> 01:11:19,240
WILLIE NELSON: # Love is like
a dyin' ember

847
01:11:20,960 --> 01:11:26,080
# Only memories remain

848
01:11:29,240 --> 01:11:34,840
# Through the ages I'll remember

849
01:11:37,280 --> 01:11:42,560
# Blue eyes cryin' in the rain

850
01:12:19,080 --> 01:12:23,640
# Some day when we meet up yonder

851
01:12:26,200 --> 01:12:31,680
# Blue eyes cryin' in the rain. #