Ministry seeking test-site sailors

Press, 6 October 1987, Page 36

Ministry seeking test-site sailors

By

DAVE WILSON

Sailors who served in New Zealand naval frigates near British nuclear tests in the Pacific 30 years ago have been asked officially to write to the Ministry of Defence. The Ministry hopes that by appealing to the sailors or their families to come forward it may be able to short-circuit an exhaustive search of 16,000 naval personnel files to find the 600 sailors who were in the nuclear-test zone.

The appeal is part of Government initiatives to survey all naval personnel for possible health problems stemming from the nuclear tests. The director of defence public relations, Commander Gerry Power, said

university students would be employed during the summer holidays to search through 16,000 personnel files to find the 600 crewmen who were aboard H.M.N.Z.S. Pukaki and Rotoiti during the Christmas Island bomb tests.

“It will be a large-scale project and the first step is to find the men who were there.”

Anyone serving in the ships during the nuclear tests should write to the Historical Research Officer, Secretary of Defence, Ministry of Defence, Private Bag, Wellington. Details of naval service and a contact address were required. The Ministry was also interested to hear from the families of

men who had served in the ships but since died. “Navy records and lists of the time are now 30 years old, and some have been transferred from the Ministry of Defence to National Archives,” said the Navy’s public relations officer, Lieutenant Lawrence Tye.

“Last known addresses will be out of date, therefore any assistance that members of the ships' crews of the time can offer will be most welcome.”

Commander Power said Defence Headquarters received a number of telephone calls recently from sailors who were present at the tests and who had come forward after a television “Close Up” programme.