A DANGEROUS mission to the other side of the world began 50 years ago this week, according to the Gazette.

Malvern man Harold Steele was hoping to get to the site of the forthcoming British hydrogen bomb test at Christmas Island to mount a protest.

"Plans were made.. to go to the danger area via Japan, but these had to be amended when the Japanese government intimated that they would only grant 63-year-old Mr Steele a visa on condition that he did not get into any kind of danger," said the paper.

"Mr Steele then booked an air passage to Fiji via Canada but this too has been superseded and instead Mr Steele's journey to Fiji will be via India."

The Gazette reported that Mr Steele flew out of London Airport to Delhi, where he planned to meet other anti-nuclear protesters.

"His 40-year-old wife Sheila... will travel to London to take part to take part in a protest march against the H-bomb tests. The march, which is from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square, is being organised by the National Council for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons Tests."

Explaining why she would not be accompanying her husband, Mrs Steele said: "When it came down to it, it was just impossible to make arrangements. The question of money enters into it and that is partly the reason I am not going."

The paper continued: "On Tuesday, Mr Steele visited his bank and drew out the remainder of his personal savings. except for a few shillings. The air passage one way has cost him about £289. Besides this, he is carrying about £90 in travellers' cheques."

He said: "This is all my life savings. If I come back, I shall have to ask friends to lend me some money for the return journey."

Mr Steele told the Gazette his protest was motivated by a "deep-rooted conviction of the horror of the H-bomb and the belief it is time ordinary men and women in the world did something about it".