In the group photograph above there is at least one (and possibly more) victim, 2 rapists, 3 abusers, 5 bullies and the 2 NCOs who covered up the whole scandal.....the youngest in the picture is 17 and the oldest trainee 19 years old. The abuse at RAF Halton took place over a 2 year period and started when the victim was 15 and a half.......
Over the past one hundred years it has been the Government and MOD Policy to recruit very young boys from 15 years upwards into HM Armed Forces. They were trained in many RAF/Army/Naval Camps around the UK often sited in remote areas and out of sight of civilian life. Contact with families was often discouraged or forbidden for the initial period of training and all recruits were made to sign the Official Secrets Act.
If under the age of 18 their parents had to agree and sign their acceptance of the Armed Forces having 'A Duty of Care' for their children and the recruits would, legally, be the responsibility of the military as 'In Loco Parentis'.
These young recruits were the responsibility of Training Staff at each Camp and their legal responsibility was outlined in either Kings or Queens Regulations.
There has long been rumour and allegations of male and female rape, sexual abuse and bullying attached to these Training Camps but they were rarely acted upon by the Armed Forces if it was reported. In many instances the trainee was usually threatened with further trouble, beaten into silence or Dismissed the Service on a manufactured charge. All too often the Training Staff initiated abuse by other trainees as a means of 'breaking the spirit' of stubborn trainees or blackmailing a trainee who saw too much and was likely to 'break the code of silence'.
With many hundreds of thousands of young trainees passing through these camps the numbers of those abused, and in many cases committed suicide, runs into the many thousands. Compared to recent Abuse Scandals in civilian institutions such as the Catholic (and other) Church, Childrens Homes and cases like the Savill scandal there is a pool of unheard of cases that will dwarf anything the public has had to contend with.
Our aim is to gather together those unheard voices and 'cold cases' and to demand that they are heard. We want the Government to issue an unreserved apology to all those abused, initiate a Royal Commission of Inquiry and to order full police Investigations. The Australian Government did just so late in 2012 based on a few hundred cases and we see no reason that HM Government, of whichever political hue, cannot do the same.
If under the age of 18 their parents had to agree and sign their acceptance of the Armed Forces having 'A Duty of Care' for their children and the recruits would, legally, be the responsibility of the military as 'In Loco Parentis'.
These young recruits were the responsibility of Training Staff at each Camp and their legal responsibility was outlined in either Kings or Queens Regulations.
There has long been rumour and allegations of male and female rape, sexual abuse and bullying attached to these Training Camps but they were rarely acted upon by the Armed Forces if it was reported. In many instances the trainee was usually threatened with further trouble, beaten into silence or Dismissed the Service on a manufactured charge. All too often the Training Staff initiated abuse by other trainees as a means of 'breaking the spirit' of stubborn trainees or blackmailing a trainee who saw too much and was likely to 'break the code of silence'.
With many hundreds of thousands of young trainees passing through these camps the numbers of those abused, and in many cases committed suicide, runs into the many thousands. Compared to recent Abuse Scandals in civilian institutions such as the Catholic (and other) Church, Childrens Homes and cases like the Savill scandal there is a pool of unheard of cases that will dwarf anything the public has had to contend with.
Our aim is to gather together those unheard voices and 'cold cases' and to demand that they are heard. We want the Government to issue an unreserved apology to all those abused, initiate a Royal Commission of Inquiry and to order full police Investigations. The Australian Government did just so late in 2012 based on a few hundred cases and we see no reason that HM Government, of whichever political hue, cannot do the same.
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/52520 Government Apology to victims of Abues...E-Petition. please sign.