HAPPIER TIME: Bill Cornwall while serving as a military policeman with the 7th Armoured brigade in the Gulf War.
Since then he he has been afflicted by cancers
Battling the enemy that lies within
STEPHANIE TODD
Wednesday, 17th January 2001
BEING faced with death is not a new experience for Bill Cornwall.
After all, the ex-soldier is one of the famous Desert Rats who battled
the forces of Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War.He also faced down Turkish
aggressors in Cyprus and patrolled the streets of Northern Ireland
at the height of the Troubles during his 25 years dedicated service
to the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.
But now the 51-year-old from Livingston is caught up in his biggest
battle yet - a fight for life against a cancerous disease that has
infected his body and left him reliant on regular hospital tests and
treatment.Recent reports suggest that contamination from uranium-tipped
weapons used by troops in battle poses a serious health risk. A leaked
Army report last week confirmed that exposure to dust from exploded
depleted uranium could lead to cancer, although it was quickly played
down by the Ministry of Defence.
But the ongoing political wrangle over the use of DU weapons and its
links to ill-health in army personnel comes too late for Bill. Sitting
hunched in a chair at home with his fingers curled tightly around
a lit cigarette, he recalls his recent nine-hour operation at Edinburgh
Royal Infirmary."They cut out my kidney and removed part of my
pancreas because they were both poisoned," he says. "I’m
in remission now but I get checked every few months, there is always
a chance it could come back. "I was diagnosed with two separate
types of cancer in 1999. At the time I was bleeding badly at the back
and my urine was like a thick, dark syrup, they thought it was gallstones."I
was lucky it was discovered at all. The ultrasound test they gave
me showed up the cancer, or shadows as the doctors called it. "The
operation was a big risk, at first they said there was nothing they
could do. They found two separate primary cancers which is highly
unusual.
"I’ve now got a scar that stretches from one side of my
lower stomach to the other, but at least I’m alive. My wife Margaret
was off work for two months with the stress of it all."Although
thinner and weaker, Bill has never lost his fighting spirit and he
shows off his scar with the same pride as he does his large collection
of military medals. And despite believing that the army’s ignorance
over DU led to his illness, the former sergeant’s eyes still
glitter as he recalls the time spent serving his country."I loved
the Army," he says. "I even volunteered to go out and serve
in the Gulf. I knew the risks but I just wanted to play my part. It
was what I had been trained for all my life. I left behind letters
for my family and friends before I went out there to be passed on
just in case something happened.
"Saddam was saying it was going to be the mother of all battles
and we didn’t know what to expect. No matter what, I wanted to
say my goodbyes."As a military policeman with the 7th Armoured
Brigade, Bill was not a stranger to the horrors of war. But despite
his vast experience, nothing could have prepared him for the scenes
of carnage as the Coalition Forces advanced into Saddam’s Kuwait
City stronghold.Fleeing Iraqi soldiers tried to make their escape
in overloaded convoys along Basra Road, the only main route left out
of the capital. It was there the Coalition Forces trapped their enemy
in a bottle neck and effectively struck the killer blow in an attack
US pilots called a "duck shoot."
"At one point I was closer than anyone to the front line, standing
watching as our bombers went flying overhead," remembers Bill.
"I could hear the ‘pop-pop- pop’ of them dropping the
shells then they would fly back again."We arrived first on Basra
Road, it was horrific. There were vehicles on fire and bodies lying
all over the place. "Human remains were scattered across the
desert. "The smoke was very thick, you could hardly see for the
fumes. The desert is a still place and there was hardly any wind that
day. It lingered all around us."
But despite the toxic fumes, possible DU dust and raging fires, Bill
and his fellow soldiers had no protection."We had gas masks,
but we never used them," he admits. "The heat was so intense
and the masks were made of pure thick rubber, it felt like you were
being boiled alive."We were never ordered to wear them so no-one
did. If we knew there were Scud missiles coming from the Iraqis we
would put suits on that were coated with charcoal on the inside to
stop chemicals seeping through.
"Any other time it was just regulation uniform, we were winning,
their missiles stopped. I never thought there could be a risk from
our own weapons.
"There were guys hosing down tanks wearing nothing but shorts
because of the heat. We had never heard about DU dust or its toxins.
After it was over we just wanted to go home." Bill travelled
back to the UK and to his wife onboard a civilian vessel carrying
left-over ammunition for the Army.He spent three weeks waking, eating
and sleeping in the vicinity of DU-coated shells and bullets. And
as the argument over the use of DU intensifies, Bill is adamant that
his illness is connected to his service in the Gulf.
"I was never ill, not one day, until recently," he says.
"Now my health has really deteriorated, I know people in their
late 60s that have more energy than me. "I get out of breath
going up the stairs and if I try to take my dog out for a walk I’m
exhausted for the rest of the day."We need to know what the risks
from DU are now but the Army is like the masons - they never want
to tell you anything." BilL reveals his biggest fear now is not
for himself, but for his 27-year-old son Keith - a Royal Marines commando
currently based in Kosovo.
"We need testing for everyone that has been around this stuff.
It’s nothing more than nuclear waste at the end of the day, of
course it is dangerous."What worries me is that my son Keith
still serves in the Army. He is in Kosovo right now. The Army should
stop using DU weapons at least until we know for a fact it is completely
safe for our troops."I’m trying to find out more information,
but it is like getting blood out of a stone. At the very least there
should be a process for screening people, but they don’t seem
to care. "The Government is just sticking its head in the sand."A
spokesman for the Ministry of Defence admits it has always been known
that there were dangers associated with DU ammunition. But he insists
there is still no evidence of a link between DU and an increased risk
of cancer. "Possible exposure to DU in the Gulf and Balkans conflicts
would have been at extremely low levels with a minimal safety risk,"
he adds.
That’s not the experience of Terry Gooding, however, the Scottish
Co-ordinator of the Gulf War Veterans Association. He has spent years
campaigning on behalf of veterans and claims Bill’s experience
has become an-all- too familiar story. "The effects of depleted
uranium are catastrophic - one particle lodged in a lymph node will
destroy a person’s immune system," he warns."Action
is needed now to give a quality of life not only to the veterans who
served in the Gulf but to their families and in some cases, their
widows. He added: "I’ve nicknamed Bill ‘Lucky’
because he has pulled through against the odds and is still here with
us, but there are so many more who are not."Yesterday was the
tenth anniversary of the start of the Gulf conflict and our thoughts
go out to the families of those who are not here to see it. "It
is in their memory that we will continue to fight for the truth over
depleted uranium to be revealed."
