29 March 2026
Dear Louise Sandher-Jones,
Open letter to the Minister of Veterans and People, concerning Britain’s nuclear test veterans
I write further to your emotional words concerning the nuclear test veterans, in the House of Commons, on 25 March, whilst in discussion with familiar cross-party names.
Last March, I received an email from the Office for Veterans’ Affairs, inviting Breached CIC, (Biological, Radiological, Ethical Abuse, Chemical Harm and Environmental Damage), to share about our work. I responded, explaining our position as daughters of nuclear test veterans, and how we advocate, provide tailored support and specialist signposting for nuclear test veterans, Porton Down veterans, survivors of military sexual trauma, institutional failures and ethical breaches in the military. I heard nothing back.
I write this on Palm Sunday, as many reflect on cheering crowds, shortly before, arguably, the most overt betrayal in history; the same people who praised, overnight turned into mockers and slayers of a man of peace. One betrayed for thirty pieces of silver, whereas others betrayed for no payment. In 2022, I experienced a cabal of false accusations, betrayal and shunning from inside the nuclear test veterans’ community, simply for speaking truth. My experience isn’t the first in this fiercely competitive community, comprised of many with vicarious trauma as a repercussion from the life-long moral injury triggered by the Commonwealth nuclear testing.
The production of government documents and files about radiation is a red herring relating about what the nuclear test veterans endured. Showmanship, political manoeuvring and the selling of tabloid newspapers on this theme has rumbled on for decades, despite nuclear test veterans suffering and dying every day.
Gandhi said,
“Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.”
Since September 2025, moral distress and injury are recognised in the DSM-5-TR Z65.8 under moral problems; undoubtedly, this term will be added to the WHO ICD codes.
Truth and injustice lie within the moral injury of volunteering nearly 22,000 British service personnel to the nuclear tests, with knowledge of effects of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Bikini Atoll. Moral injury, of which I am sure you are aware, as a veteran, constitutes one or more of the following acts, and has a vicarious effect on those close to nuclear test veterans:
- Ethical betrayal – personnel were assured they would be fine by their superiors,
- Commission – personnel were volunteered to witness a wholly shocking life-altering event,
- Omission – personnel had a lack of or inadequate protective equipment,
- Suppression – personnel were ordered to remain silent concerning their experiences.
Nuclear test veterans have experienced all four acts. There is no reason that the government cannot act immediately to remedy the decades of denial based on the moral rupture of right and wrong experienced by those who participated in the testing. I invite you to engage with Breached CIC about these points.
During the first decade following the Christmas Island tests, there was a significantly high suicide rate in the nuclear test veterans compared to the control group, discovered in the Fourth Analysis Study. In 1952, at the Montebello Islands, a sapper writes to his wife,
“We had another new lunatic case today, also an acute appendicitis, making the roll up to 3 attempted suicides, 6 appendicitis cases and 10 lunatic cases, by that my love you can just about guess what it is like here.”
I’ve never known of contagious appendicitis… I would say this is due to sheer fear and a lack of duty of care by one’s own side. This opens a massive ethical void concerning the nuclear tests, and what the study data is drawn out from – the personal experiences and health journeys of those who participated in witnessing and feeling these blasts – through the very fabric of their being. The argument shouldn’t be about radioactive exposure and physical effects but the moral injury and breach of every ethical boundary that these men encountered.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Ceri Marsh
Director, Breached CIC
Standing up for victims of moral injury and ethical injustice in the armed forces
Nuclear Test Veterans – Hansard – UK Parliament
Leave a Reply