Nuclear test witness to receive medal from British Government

The Nuclear Test Medal will be presented to Roy Williams, 87, by Ōtaki MP Tim Costley. Photo / NZ Herald

A Levin man who was made to witness nuclear bomb testing during the Cold War is to receive a medal from His Majesty King Charles III and the British Government.

Roy Williams, who suffers from dementia and is a resident of the Levin Home for War Veterans, was stationed on a navy vessel during the British Atmospheric testing of nuclear bombs on Kiritimati (Christmas Island), April 28, 1958.

He told family he remembers seeing his own skeleton through closed eyes and later looked up to see a huge mushroom cloud in the sky.

Now aged 87, the Nuclear Test Medal will be presented in recognition of his dedication and commitment to service by local Ōtaki MP Tim Costley, with daughters Jaki Bickerton and Kirsty Williams to attend.

Bickerton said the recognition would mean a lot to their father and their family. Their mother Helen died in September last year.

He often told them all stories about what he had experienced during Operation Grapple.

Roy Williams. Photo / Horowhenua Chronicle

Williams was a Royal Engineer with the Royal Airforce (RAF) and was positioned on the deck of a ship. In his stories, he recalled that officers and other officials were sent below deck while he and other privates and engineers were to remain on deck and observe.

“Dad told us how they were ordered to crouch and cover their eyes. There was a countdown from 10 across the boat’s loudspeakers,” Bickerton said.

“When the bomb exploded, there was a wave of searing heat and a flash that was incredibly bright.

“He told us that as he had his hands over his eyes he could see the skeleton of his fingers, even with his eyes closed.”

“Dad being Dad, he opened his eyes and saw the mushroom cloud towering skyward.”

Roy Williams' daughters Jaki Bickerton and Kirsty Williams.

The Williams family moved to New Zealand in the 1960s. Roy Williams worked as a watch and clock repairer in Lower Hutt for almost 30 years before moving the shop to Ōtaki and then retiring to Levin.

Bickerton said on retirement a few years ago, their father sought to contact former service colleagues and found many were lobbying for recognition of what they had experienced.

After he was diagnosed with dementia, he was unable to use a computer and lost contact.

“This came out of the blue. We were excited for Dad when we heard about it,” she said.

The Nuclear Test Medal was announced by the British Parliament in 2022 to recognise the “significant contribution of military, civilian, and overseas staff and personnel who participated in Britain’s nuclear testing programme in the 1950s and 1960s”.

The design features an atom surrounded by olive branches and features the words “Nuclear Test Medal”.

“The recognition is important because it says it did happen,” Bickerton said.

“Many of Dad’s friends and colleagues have passed – many with various cancers and related diseases attributed to radiation exposure. While he has dementia now, he still recalls these events. It is something he will never forget.”

“We are extremely proud of our Dad for serving his country and the Commonwealth during those Cold War years.”

Operation Grapple was a set of four series of British nuclear weapons tests of early atomic bombs and hdyrogen bombs carried out in the late 1950s at Malden Island and Kiritimati and in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands.

The Grapple Y bomb was dropped in the sea off Christmas Island April 28, 1958, and remains the largest British nuclear weapon ever tested.