George Swain was born in Leamington Spa in 1932. He left school at 14, and after working various jobs he joined the Navy for a seven-year service with a five-year reserve. While in the Navy he trained as a chef and was sent to participate in nuclear tests taking place on Christmas Island. Swain remembered his experiences on Christmas Island fondly and thoroughly enjoyed his time in the Navy. He and his wife went on to raise three daughters in Walthamstow, where Swain worked as a postman. He passed away in December 2024.
Interview extracts
Description
Born in 1932, George Swain joined the Royal Navy after leaving school. In this clip he recounts with palpable excitement what it was like to experience the Operation Grapple detonation. While not a common opinion expressed by veterans, he is not the only one to have enjoyed his time at British nuclear test sites. Swain later worked as a postman. He sadly passed away in December 2024.
This is a short extract from an in-depth interview. George Swain was recorded for the Oral History of British Nuclear Test Veterans project in 2024. The interviewer was Joshua A Bushen. This project was run in partnership with National Life Stories and the full interview can be accessed at the British Library.
Transcript
Flight deck, everybody was in masks and covering, and you felt the blast as it came through. Thirty miles away.
I was going to ask that, I was going to say, what was your experience of the detonation on the day?
It wasn’t a bad day. It was a good day, I loved it. Sun was shining, and they say, ‘The airplane’s coming over’, and it came over, and the person who was giving the commentary, he says, ‘The weapon is falling’. He says, ‘Everybody turn round so you’re facing away from the blast’. And you hear ‘bang’. He says, ‘Right, now you turn round and you’ll see a big red glow in the sky’. I’ll show you in a minute when… whatsname. It was good, it was good, I enjoyed it. I’d do it again. I would. I would really do it again. No… it wouldn’t, if the chance come, although I’m ninety-two this year, it wouldn’t bother me. If somebody says, ‘ere are, there’s a chance you want to go and see it again, I’d be off like a shot. That’s how good it was. I enjoyed my life in the Navy.
[ends at 0:01:08]
