Christmas Island veteran 'humbled' by nuclear test medal

Gordon Craggs wore his medal at the Cenotaph Remembrance Day parade

A veteran of the Christmas Island hydrogen bomb tests has said he is proud and humbled to have received the Nuclear Test Medal.

Gordon Craggs, of Ferndown, Dorset, witnessed the detonation of 24 hydrogen bombs by the US military in the Pacific island in the 1960s.

The award, the first military medal issued by King Charles, recognises personnel involved in nuclear testing.

Mr Craggs, 82, wore the medal at the Cenotaph Remembrance Day parade.

The Royal Engineers veteran formed part of the international task force testing nuclear weapons in Operation Dominic.

Gordon Craggs (left, in the grey coat and black beret) marched alongside fellow nuclear test veterans

He said he was initially excited to be sent to the Pacific.

"I found myself being issued tickets to on BOAC, now British Airways, from London to Honolulu on a 707, via New York and San Francisco and Hawaii," he said.

"My job was to run the diesel generators and the electrical control rooms."

The hydrogen bombs were detonated off the south east tip of the island, about 12 to 20 miles away from the observing personnel.

"The first one made the biggest impression," he said.

Designs for the Nuclear Test Medal design were unveiled in July

"We were issued with very heavy, black-plated goggles so you couldn't see a thing.

"There was a countdown, then there was utter silence.

"Then the whole world lit up bright white - the sky, the horizon, the people in front of you - everything was just blinding, lightning white. It was surprising and bewildering.

"That was followed by a fireball and a burst of penetrating heat.

"After the heat, you then get a massive pressure wave which bends the trees over.

"Subsequently, it's made me think hard about the hundreds and hundreds of weapons that are stockpiled across the world."

The Nuclear Test Medal, announced in November 2022, recognises personnel who participated in nuclear testing programmes in the 1950s and 1960s.

Mr Craggs received his medal the week before the Cenotaph parade, just before his 82nd birthday.

"It's made me prouder than I thought I could be," he said.

"I have a few sad thoughts for those who have passed and have not experienced the recognition they deserved, and that makes it humbling."

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