AS special events were held across the country last Thursday to mark the 50th anniversary of Nuclear VeteransÕ Day, Bordon man Steve Johnson was recalling a period that is for ever rooted in his mind.

For Mr Johnson (71), of Horseshoe Crescent, was one of thousands of British servicemen dispatched to the South Pacific at the height of the Cold War in the 1950s and 60s, to act as Òguinea pigsÓ.

He witnessed the detonating of BritainÕs first nuclear device in Operation Hurricane on the Monte Bello islands off the Australian coast on October, 3, 1952.

Mr Johnson, who was just 21 at the time, describes Òa very dirty bomb, with thousands of tons of water, mud and rock from the sea bottom thrown thousands of feet into the air - a high tidal wave was causedÓ.

ÒThe effect of the blast and radioactive contamination extended over a wide area. The wind blew the contaminated cloud the wrong way to Australia.Ó

Operation Hurricane was not the only test explosion which Mr Johnson withessed.

Later, in 1958, when Europe was expecting thousands of Russian tanks to sweep through the continent, servicemen, including Mr Johnson, who was serving as an engineer in REME at the time, were sent out to Christmas Island.

ÒThe chiefs wanted to know how near to a nuclear explosion our troops could get without any protective clothing,Ó Mr Johnson said.

ÒSo we sat out in the open on Christmas Island watching two Valiant aircraft circling overhead until we got the message that the weapon had left the aircraft.

ÒThen we got our heads down and pressed our hands to our eyes to stop the massive flash of the H-bomb, then hands over our ears for the crack of the blast.

ÒWe were pretty close. We stayed there until they found a route back to our tents which was free of radioactive materials.Ó

Although no one was killed on the island Mr Johnson, secretary of the Bordon and District Branch of the Royal British Legion, said the threat of cancer has been with every man present since.

The series of tests, codenamed Grapple, culminated in a final H-bomb, Grapple Zulu, on September 11, 1958 before the test ban treaty came in, said Mr Johnson.

ÒAn American professor said that if they exploded another bomb on Bekinie Attol the island would disappear, and it did.

ÒHe also said if they let another one off on Christmas Island, that too would go down. So waiting on the island for the September 11 bomb was no joke!

ÒNo one was actually killed on the island from the bombs, but we have all lived since then with the threat of various cancers coming in later life and many have died.Ó

So far Mr Johnson, secretary of the Whitehill Bordon War Memorial Association, has not suffered any symptoms of the various illnesses.

ÒYou have been expecting it all the time, though,Ó he said.

A campaign was started in 1958 in a bid for justice for the nuclear test veterans.

And although hopes have been raised a number of times, Mr Johnson said victory has not yet been secured.

ÒIt seemed in December 1990 that we were close to victory when John Major agreed to examine the plight of the veterans hit by radiation nightmare,Ó he said.

ÒWe also expected to get help when Tony Blair came to power. We even went to Europe, but the government said they had no records of that time. So how could Europe make a decision without any records?Ó

And despite what the men experienced, Mr Johnson said no medal has been issued - although an Australian medal is available for the atomic tests.