I was a British MOD employee in Cyprus during the years 1960 to 1963, and one of my bridesmaids’ husbands revealed to us he had been posted to Christmas Island in the 1950s; he was a Squadron Leader in the RAF. He edged around what occurred there, but could only reveal, it was potentially a dangerous, highly secret assignment. But it had to do with nuclear defense strategies involving the RAF.
Ironically my husband was later posted as a Nuclear V Force Captain in the UK at the height of the Cold War in 1963.
Christmas Island then, was classified as a top secret British base and it had been an unaccompanied posting for officers – this means, no wives or kids. Recently the veterans of this former British base are able to sue the British Government for compensation. Why? Christmas Island was used for nuclear testing.
Google – Britain’s atomic test veterans win right to sue for compensation – The Telegraph.
It is revealed, after one test, the servicemen were ordered to kill the birds that were still flying around, but blinded by the blast. They did it with regret, with baseball bats. There were some reports that certain species of reef fish were appearing deformed too – Red Emperor fish, if I remember rightly.
Is it still contaminated eh? I joke aside, when I suggest, if this was passed around to people smugglers and prospective boat people, maybe they would think twice before risking their lives to get there?
Or let the US Forces take it over, as Obama is bent on getting more American bases on Australian territory!
Pat Lightfoot,
Armidale
