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Memorials for Britain's nuclear test veterans

Getty Images Image of a British test explosion over Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean in 1957. In the bottom left of the black and white photo is a pair of binoculars and in the bottom right looks to be a person facing away from the camera to look at the explosion. They have a white hood up over their head. In the top half of the image is a huge plume of smoke in the shape of a mushroom. Getty Images
The British government dropped nine thermonuclear weapons on Christmas Island, now Kiritimati, between 1957 and 1958

Veterans who took part in Britain’s nuclear testing programme during the 1950s and 60s are being honoured by a new memorial.

Two memorials have been installed in Central Park, Peterborough, to commemorate those who lost their lives and are still suffering as a result of the programme.

Among the attendees will be Alan Dowson, who was exposed to nuclear testing while stationed as a 19-year-old serviceman in the Pacific in 1958.

The memorials will be unveiled by mayor Marco Cereste at an event on Saturday, from 12:00 BST until 14:00.

Emma Baugh/BBC Present day photo of Mr Dowson who is smiling joyfully at the camera. He has grey hair, a moustache and wears and pink and white striped shirt with a grey blazer style jacket over the top. The background of the image is blurred but it is noticeable that he is sat outside. Behind him, green grass can be made out as well as a grey panelled form of outhouse. Emma Baugh/BBC
Alan Dowson said he was "looking forward to the official unveiling and catching up with fellow veterans about our lives and experiences"

Long-standing Labour councillor Dowson was awarded a Nuclear Test Medal by the government earlier this year and had previously campaigned for recognition for nuclear veterans.

The former mayor was exposed to thermonuclear bombs and witnessed detonations in Kiritimati when he was an acting corporal.

The British government dropped nine thermonuclear weapons on Christmas Island, now Kiritimati, between 1957 and 1958.

About 22,000 British servicemen, along with soldiers from New Zealand and Fiji, took part in the tests.

Peterborough City Council Black and white photo of Mr Dowson as a young man. He is smiling at the camera and has no facial hair. His hair, eyebrows and eyes appear to be a dark shade. There is nothing in the background of the photo. Peterborough City Council
"We sat with our backs to the sea for four bombs - two atomic and two hydrogen - and we felt the blast. We got up, and then we could see the mushroom cloud, and we got back on our lorries," Alan Dowson previously told the BBC

Dowson said he was "delighted, proud and humbled" by the memorials and the work the council had done to get them installed in Central Park.

"As far as I'm aware no other council has commemorated nuclear veterans, so we are setting a poignant precedent here in Peterborough," he said.

"It is vitally important to remember those who served their countries. There are not many nuclear veterans left - only 13 or 14 in East Anglia."

The new memorials consist of a stone plaque in the park’s sunken garden dedicated 'to the legacy of the Atomic Bomb and Atomic Test Survivors'.

The second memorial will consist of two stone plinths in the park’s wreath-laying area.

Peterborough City Council’s cabinet member for children’s services, Katy Cole, said the memorials recognised those who gave their lives and those who suffered for years afterwards, having served their countries.

“We would urge everyone to come along to the celebration event, which promises to be a poignant occasion," she said.

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