Atomic tests man sues MoD

A Shropshire nuclear veteran is one of 180 former servicemen suing the Ministry of Defence for damages of more than £50,000 after he was involved in the testing of atomic bombs.Leslie Lund, from Telford, has joined forces with other survivors from the Royal Navy ship, HMS Diana, to sue the MoD for the damage allegedly caused by the atomic bomb testing of 1956.

London-based Rosenblatt Solicitors has served a High Court writ against the MoD on behalf of the surviving servicemen or the family members of the deceased.

The great-grandfather, from Hollinswood, today claimed he had suffered a catalogue of health problems, including skin and bone complaints, since the 1970s, after he served on the destroyer when two atomic bombs were detonated off Montebello Island, off the Australian coast.

Mr Lund, 72, said his memory of the bomb detonation was as clear today as back in 1956.

"On the horizon you saw the cloud and then it went out," he said.

"We had to turn our backs on it for the actual explosion and then when they thought it was safe enough to turn around we watched the mushroom cloud.

"We certainly felt a shockwave - and that was 22 miles away for the second one, which was the most powerful as it was such a deadly weapon."

Atomic bomb Mosaic G1 was detonated on May 16, 1956, with Mosaic G2 tested a month later.

Mr Lund said the servicemen, some as young as 15, had to "batten down the hatches" while the bomb went off.

He said some of the men involved wore "special suits and breathing apparatus", but he had nothing but his uniform.

"We went through the atomic cloud as it dropped back down," he said.

"It wasn't pleasant in any way at all," added the veteran.

Mr Lund said he first realised the seriousness of the effects of the atomic bomb testing at a reunion in 1987, when he and his friends discussed their health problems.

By Kirsty Marston