The turkey is in the freezer but for us as a family, Christmas preparations are currently on hold, as we attend the funerals of two of our brave nuclear test veterans on 21st and 22nd December along the South Coast on behalf of the Association.

Our Chaplain, the Very Rev Nicholas Frayling is taking the services.

Both men had requested the BNTVA coffin drape for their final journeys.

Both men were in the RAF and served their country at Maralinga in 1956-57.

Both men were hopeful that more formal recognition would happen in their lifetimes.

Both men sadly didn't see this happen.

One rose to the rank of Squadron Leader, yet, as a young man of 18 years old at Maralinga, suffered from anxiety, flashbacks, depression and nightmares after witnessing Operation Buffalo - sure signs of PTSD and his torment is verified by his widow. She wanted to have "atomic radiation-related injuries" put on his death certificate but was refused. He had spent his final years in a care home, suffered indignities in his health, finally passing away in his wife's arms from a very rare form of heart failure at the beginning of the month.

It will be an honour to spend time with his widow, a lovely lady who regularly contacts the BNTVA, which we reciprocate and have done since the initial lockdowns.

At the second funeral, we will also say farewell to a man who shared many memories with my father at RAAF Edinburgh Field as they were in the same group of close friends. After the RAF they lost contact, but were in neighbouring counties. We had hoped to meet him in person on our way to the Squadron Leader's funeral, but, alas, this never happened in person. 

The first time we spoke was in July 2020, when I received an email saying, "What the bloody hell is going on?" Ironically, this was the same question Prime Minister Robert Menzies asked of Winston Churchill when the fallout from Britain's first atomic bomb which was detonated in the HMS Plym blew over northwest Australia and beyond. 

We spoke at length and emailed many times, which will be the subject for another blog post around the Christmas period, as he filled in the Australian gaps in my father's flight log. He said he knew a Mick Marsh who travelled back on a Comet with him, and, after being asked, I nervously sent a photograph to see if he recognised Dad. I was so nervous opening his reply, with the flood of emotion that can happen when you find links with real living people from the nuclear testing. They were at Operation Buffalo and pre-Antler together, and prepared for Grapple X.

He suffered from tumours over his back which appeared a few years after returning from Maralinga, convinced that removing his shirt on orders and turning away from the bomb caused these injuries. However, he still couldn't convince the MOD to award him a War Pension. 

I attach the excerpt of an email above which he wrote to me in October 2021 with his poignant words. This was at a time that he was preparing for his own mortality in many ways, had spoken to us about this, but had not told his family.

This happens quite a bit by veterans who use the BNTVA as an outlet to relay worries and concerns, without informing their nearest and dearest; this is what makes the BNTVA special and is a solemn reminder of part of our reason for existing. 

RIP Cold War heroes.