I clearly saw the bones in my hand, just like you see them if you look at the results of an X-ray." My eyes closed with my hands covering them. For example, Ron Watson – then a 17-year-old British soldier deployed with the Army Royal Engineers – told The Conversation that he was struck by an unbelievably bright light: "I had my back to the explosion. This echoes many of the first-hand accounts of those who were there, especially the bit about the finger bones. Derek said he could see all his finger bones glowing through his hand. Those men, they had to sit with their backs to the horizon, cover their faces with their hands. Derek, he was on the deck of a ship a lot nearer. "Mushroom hung in the air 40 minutes, nearly an hour, just like you see on those news reels of Hiroshima. "I was on the shore," he tells the Turners. In the episode, Bobby Delamore (Kieran Hill) shows Dr Patrick Turner (Stephen McGann) and Shelagh Turner (Laura Main) some cine film he captured during his National Service, which he smuggled out thanks to his job in the post room. What was it like to experience a nuclear test? This led directly to the restoration of the nuclear "Special Relationship" with the United States.Īfter a four-year pause, there was another onslaught of nuclear testing at Christmas Island in 1962, when the UK cooperated with the US on Operation Dominic to carry out a further 31 detonations. After some disappointing results with the first few designs, Britain ultimately joining the ranks of the world's recognised thermonuclear powers by successfully testing a hydrogen bomb.
The military ran four test series, trying out several different hydrogen bombs. It was introduced in 1949, and call-ups finally ended in 1960. Many of the British servicemen were on their National Service, a programme of post-war conscription which required all healthy men aged 17-21 to serve in the armed forces for 18 months (later increased to two years). During this time, approximately 20,000 British servicemen were deployed to Kiritimati (Christmas Island), alongside several hundred New Zealand and Fijian soldiers. Operation Grapple was a massive operation. Nobody can know whether it is effective or not until it has been tested."Ī hydrogen bomb test at Christmas Island in 1957 (Getty) That had always been the plan as Prime Minister Anthony Eden had said on the radio two years beforehand, "You cannot prove a bomb until it has exploded. Several hydrogen bombs were designed and produced, and in 1957 the British military arranged the first test. The British had already built and tested an atomic bomb (like those used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki) but a hydrogen bomb would be a far more destructive weapon to have in the nuclear arsenal, and would also increase Britain's standing on the international stage. The Cold War was well underway by the mid-1950s at that time, the world's only two thermonuclear powers were the USSR and the USA – but the British authorities wanted to possess thermonuclear weapons of their own. Operation Grapple was a crucial part of the British mission to develop a hydrogen bomb.
Operation Grapple: what happened on Christmas Island? If your interest has been piqued and you want to know more, here are all the details of what really happened. Call the Midwife has a proud history of highlighting public health scandals and real-life conditions, and this episode is no exception.
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