Tadley veteran fights on for compensation

A TADLEY man who is among 1,000 former servicemen attempting to sue the Government after being exposed to dangerous levels of radiation during nuclear tests in the 1950s, says the fight to secure compensation will go on, despite their legal bid being thrown out by the Supreme Court last week.
Peter Hallewell, aged 74, of New Road, was one of 25,000 servicemen from the UK, Australia and New Zealand stationed on Christmas Island, near to where tests for nuclear bombs were taking place in the South Pacific, between 1952 and 1958.
He is now one of about 1,000 men who have been fighting over the past two years in the High Court for compensation from the Ministry of Defence for illnesses they say they have suffered as a result of the tests.
Mr Hallewell, who has attended all the court cases so far, was taken to Basingstoke and North Hampshire hospital for a gallstones and bladder operation last week, and so was unable to attend the Supreme Court hearing in London last Wednesday, when the case was dismissed in a narrow four to three decision by law lords.
However Mr Hallewell has since received a letter from London solicitors, Rosenblatts, who are handling the war veterans’ cases, which indicated that the legal fight was not over.
Mr Hallewell said: “The letter says that 1,002 complaints will be heard at the High Court, probably in the late spring/early summer, with a judge to be appointed,” he said.
Mr Hallewell was a 21-year-old leading aircraftsman in the RAF when an eight-megaton bomb was detonated about 50 miles out to sea from where he and some 5,000 servicemen were sitting on the ground inland. The servicemen had been issued with boiler suits and gloves, before being told to sit with their backs to the blast.
Mr Hallewell said: “We covered our eyes and as the flash happened we could see every bone in our fingers. We were just guinea pigs,” said Mr Hallewell, whose burnt skull produced a thick crust after the blast.
He has since suffered stomach pains, diagnosed as Crohn’s disease, and believes that the effects of the radiation have filtered down the generations, affecting the fertility of one of his sons.
The veterans’ case is being funded by private donations and Mr Hallewell remained confident that there were sufficient funds remaining to pay the cost of legal fees, including those of the barristers fighting the case.
However, Mr Hallewell added that the MoD had seemingly limitless funds.
“It’s Government money. They have big holes in their pockets – a team of around 18 turn up in court,” he said, and pointed out that many of the veterans had died during the lengthy legal battle. “Two or three recently passed away, we are becoming fewer and fewer.”