Asks King to give nuclear medals to the heroes of the weapons tests

The government has been asked to ensure that the king personally presents the new medal and compensates the victims of the tests

Activists are calling for the new medal they have been waiting for 70 years to come from the king himself, as head of the armed forces (

Image: AFP via Getty Images)

The king is to personally hand over the new medal to nuclear veterans – along with a promise of compensation, the government has been told.

Veterans Affairs Minister Johnny Mercer has been asked to ensure that King Charles will preside over a ceremony honoring Cold War heroes ahead of Remembrance Sunday.

"The new nuclear testing medal is very beautiful, and we congratulate the government on finally agreeing to award it," Manchester campaign adviser Tommy Judge told him in a letter. "But frankly, that's not enough."

He said that "the invaluable contribution of veterans often came at a terrible price" as veterans were found to have higher rates of death and cancer, miscarriages in their wives, infant mortality and birth defects in their children.

Sqn Ldr John Robinson, 89, of Bishop's Stortford, holds the first nuclear medal to come off the production line. John made cloud sampling sorties through two nuclear mushrooms and undertook radio and cloud tracking missions during two more, in Australia in the 1950s.

Judge Cllr said compensation was “long overdue” and in the US, Joe Biden recently extended a $75,000 per head scheme. "Nuclear test veterans are getting old. They can no longer wait for a reward - now is the time to do it," said Cllr Judge, representing the local nuclear-free authorities.

He added: "The veteran community and the charities fighting for them have for many years reported cases of cancer, often repeated, and premature death among veterans and many profound disabilities among their veterans. offspring. Many people believe that. ..