A dad told his partner "I think it's all my fault" after their son was born disabled.
Steve Purse, now 49, was born with short stature about a decade after his father, Flight Lieutenant David Purse, served with the RAF in Maralinga, Australia, where British nuclear tests were carried out. He said that it was "obvious" to his mum and dad that there was an issue, after he was taken away from them straight after he was born.
Steve, originally from Neston, Wirral, said: "I was taken away from my mum for a few days and the doctors told my dad, basically, that I was disabled. He broke the news to mum, but he said to her 'I think it's all my fault, I think it's linked to my service at Maralinga'.
"Obviously disability can be a chance thing, an act of God, but when you start putting the things together and you're adding one thing to another you think this is not an act of God, it's an act of government."
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He is now a father of one himself and told PA news agency that medical records which he believes are held by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) could provide information which would help his two-year-old son Sascha. His dad, David, who died in 2015, was in charge of the airfield at Maralinga from 1962 to 1963.
He told his family he had seen ground zero where nuclear weapons were detonated and that a single strand wire fence separated the area of the desert classed as contaminated. The condition which Mr Purse was born with is a genetic mutation which is probably unique in the world, he said.
He believes medical records, which could show what his father was exposed to, are needed to start research into conditions which affected veterans and may impact on generations to come. But despite making a number of applications to different bodies for information from the monitoring programme of servicemen at Maralinga, who had blood and urine samples taken regularly, Mr Purse has not been able to access any information.
Though his son, Sascha, was born without disabilities but he worried he may be affected by health problems later on in life. He said: "You do wonder whether you have played genetic Russian roulette with his life.
"Every headache, every cough, every sneeze from him I'm wondering is this the start of something, is it going to get worse? As time goes by I'm going to constantly be thinking what's his future got and if something awful does happen I'm responsible for that."
Mr Purse said he hoped launching legal action against the MoD could provide answers. A spokesman for the MoD said: "We are grateful to all service personnel who participated in the British nuclear testing programme and contributed to keeping our nation secure and are pleased that they will now be receiving a medal in recognition of this.
"It remains the case that no information is withheld from veterans and any medical records taken either before, during or after participation in the UK nuclear weapon tests are held in individual military medical records in the Government's archives, which can be accessed on request.
"The MoD is not able to comment on ongoing litigation or claims, nor would the MoD be able to comment if they were yet to receive the claim."
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