Rayland Peace was born in Maymyo (now Pyin Oo Lwin), Myanmar, in 1940. He grew up in Sheffield and Harrogate. After leaving secondary school aged 15, Peace attended an Army Apprentice School where he qualified as a carpenter joiner in the Royal Engineers. After graduating, he was posted to the British Army of the Rhine for a year, before volunteering to go to Christmas Island for Operation Grapple. He returned to Christmas Island for Operation Dominic, where he worked alongside United States servicemen. Peace remained in the Army after his return from Christmas Island, serving in Singapore, Borneo, Kenya, and Canada. Upon leaving the Army, Peace worked as a carpenter and emigrated to Australia in the 1970s. He returned to England and spent ten years as the engineering manager at Heathrow Airport prior to his retirement. He has been married twice and has three children, nine grandchildren, and a great-grandson. He currently lives in Kent with his wife.
Interview extracts
Description
Rayland Peace describes his involvement in LABRATS (Legacy of the Atomic Bomb, Recognition for Atomic Test Survivors), which he initially thought was an arm of the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association (BNTVA). He discusses his initial scepticism towards LABRATS’ ‘look me in the eye’ campaign, as he did not believe the UK government would give medallic recognition to test veterans in his lifetime. He was, however, supportive of the campaign and describes his pride at having been involved in it and having received the Nuclear Test Medal. Peace was a Royal Engineer who participated in both of the Christmas Island test series: Operation Grapple and the American-led Operation Dominic (codenamed Brigadoon in Britain).
This is a short extract from an in-depth interview. Rayland Peace was recorded for the Oral History of British Nuclear Test Veterans project in 2024. The interviewer was Joshua A Bushen. The project was run in partnership with National Life Stories and the full interview can be accessed at the British Library.
Transcript
Hooked into LABRATS. Yeah, I thought they were part and parcel of it, I thought that was just another phase of BNTVA. But I hooked into LABRATS and they were doing a lot about it. And then there was talk, I don’t know, about four or five years or something like that, time’s flown, about we’re asking for a medal. And I used to write, wish you luck on that one then. You know, we’ll all be dead by then. Ha ha ha, and all this crap. And it worked out that they pushed, and pushed, and pushed. I feel proud.
[ends at 0:00:33]
