At its meeting of 12th November the Rotary Club of Anstruther heard from Mr David Whyte a man who, as a soldier in the Royal engineers, took part in ‘Operation Grapple Z’ – one of the MOD’s early tests on nuclear weapons during the cold war era.

At this time of remembrance it was fitting to hear a personal account of activities that put many people, both servicemen and civilians, in harms way and left a legacy that is today largely forgotten. Mr Whyte spoke of his continuing fight as a ‘nuclear veteran’ to highlight the damage caused to the men exposed to nuclear radiation, to their widows – and especially to children and to grandchildren as a result of the genetic damage caused. An effect he said that will still be measurable for 100 years to come. Mr Whyte estimated that some 22,000 people in total have been affected as a result of these nuclear tests.

He described his personal experience of five tests that started in August 1958. As he said ‘you felt the blast coming up. You could feel the heat going straight through you and then a blinding flash. You could see palm trees bending, it was rushing towards you’ He went on to say ‘when the blast went off you could see the bones in your hands. It was just a red glow’. He explained that he was given protective clothing for just one of the five tests and was never further than 10 to 15 miles from the blast. ‘Ground Zero’ was his main place of work and he had the task of entering bomb shelters within two hours of an explosion to collect debris.

We also heard of Mr Whyte’s long battle to gain recognition for the damaging effects of the nuclear tests and compensation for those affected. A very sobering story but finally one where legal progress is perhaps at last being made.

Following questions a vote of thanks was proposed by club member Alastair Graham.