Page 12 - BNVTA News November 2020

10
campaign Summer 2020
British Nuclear Test Veterans at the National Memorial Arboretum
activist Bob Smith was inspired by the work of his Grandfather who was involved in the recovery and reburial of bodies from the battlefields of the Great War and in the construction
of Commonwealth War Grave Cemeteries for both wars.
Bob campaigned tirelessly in his own words “to ensure those that have been lost will never be airbrushed from the face of history” and, in 2006, Bob accompanied Peter’s widow ‘Gron’ to the new BNTVA plot at the NMA where they unveiled the memorial.
This memorial served as the centre of the nuclear test communities' remembrance until 2012, where it was noted that the fabric of the structure was suffering from exposure to the elements.
A decision was made to create a new longer lasting memorial which would carry the marble plaque from the old memorial and be moved to a more striking position within the BNTVA plot. This was unveiled on the 3rd October 2012 by Bob Smith in his final duty to the BNTVA
before taking his long-deserved retirement.
The 3rd of October had become synonymous with the British Nuclear Test Community as it had been chosen by members from Portsmouth to commemorate the first test of a British atomic device, Operation Hurricane, in 1952. Adopting this date, the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association named it National Atomic Veterans Awareness Day (NAVAD) from a suggestion by Bob Smith.
The BNTVA had paid for the new memorial and its development had been constrained by the available funds. In 2016, an opportunity arose for the Association to bid for funding to complete the national memorial in line with the original aspiration. Funding was gained and the responsibility for delivering the final additions to the memorial was passed to the Nuclear Community Charity Fund under their Remembrance project.
Following delays negotiating amendments to the design to comply with NMA planning conditions, the new memorial additions were finally unveiled and dedicated at a ceremony marking NAVAD 2018. BNTVA veterans Derek Hickman RE and Terry Washington RN were chosen to unveil the two memorial extensions.