Defence chiefs have admitted they have no idea how many men were rendered infertile by their Cold War radiation experiments - as yet another veteran dies alone without family.
Friends of Alfred Trott are trying to trace distant relatives in the hope they can attend his funeral next month, the latest in a long line of nuclear bomb test veterans who have died without their promised medal.
The news comes just days after the Commons was told the Ministry of Defence had never bothered to check on how many servicemen became sterile after being exposed to radiation in the 1950s and 1960s.
Owen Thompson, the SNP ’s armed forces spokesman, said: “This issue is a festering sore and an appalling stain on the history of the UK. The MoD has no data at all on this issue. It is an horrific and callous oversight.”
We previously reported the MoD had “revised the timescale” of delivering the medal without explanation, and veterans are dying as they await the honour announced by Rishi Sunak last November.
An online petition and letter-writing campaign has led to repeated questions in Parliament. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace was forced to deny on Twitter that he had been ignoring test veterans, and has finally agreed to meet them.
Mr Thompson said: “Veterans need a full apology, compensation and a public inquiry into their disgraceful treatment, which has lasted for decades. All the MoD has done is issue some weasel words about a medal - then failed to deliver even on that. It is a national scandal.”
Meanwhile friends of Alfred, who was also known as Albert, are organising his funeral in East London next month and appealing for anyone who knew him, or is a relative, to attend.
Sign the petition calling on the MoD to give the nuclear veterans their medal before Remembrance Sunday here
Alfred, 87, served in the RAF for four years and was at Operation Grapple, a series of atomic and hydrogen bombs, on Christmas Island in the South Pacific in 1957 and 1958. He also took part in a decontamination clean-up at the end of his time there.
Many veterans later found themselves unable to father children, or were too afraid of birth defects to try.
Roger Davie, who befriended him through volunteer work at veterans charity SSAFA, said: “He never spoke much about personal things, but he said that the effects of Christmas Island may have prevented him from getting married.
“He was a very sociable chap, always finding new places to eat and seeking friendship. His constant companions were his little terrier dogs, who he would cuddle and kiss like babies.”
Alfred may have been adopted, as he never knew his birth date or much about his family. He is thought to have been born in Bristol around 1936, with the full name Alfred Albert Trott. His parents may have been called Rose and William. In later years he lived in Hackney, East London.
The ceremony will be held at Manor Park Crematorium at 2pm on July 13.
