91Èȱ¬

The Rainbow Warrior was launched from London in 1978, and was soon making headlines. Greenpeace used her in many of their direct action campaigns against targets like whaling, seal culling and nuclear contamination at sea.

In the summer of 1985 the ship was in New Zealand preparing to set sail for Mururoa to protest at French nuclear testing. But on the night of 10th July the shocking news came that the Rainbow Warrior had been bombed in Auckland harbour, and that one of her crew was dead. It later emerged that the attack had been carried out by members of the French secret service.

Peter Willcox was the skipper and he recalls the events of that night, together with Steve Sawyer - who was leading Greenpeace’s campaign in the Pacific - and Grace O’Sullivan – one of the youngest members of the crew and a former Irish surfing champion. Also reunited on the programme are Brian Fitzgerald, who was in Washington for Greenpeace when news came through of the sinking and Bryn Jones, one of Greenpeace’s UK Directors at the time.

The crew discuss their reaction when they heard that the French were responsible. Looking back, they say there were lots of little clues on the night, but they only became obvious later.

In the programme, the crew also talk about the early days on board the Rainbow Warrior – when they were seen as shaggy, hairy men in inflatable dinghies, confronting whalers or blocking waste pipes from Sellafield. And they talk about their feelings for the ship herself, and their life on board.

Producer: Louise Adamson
Series Producer: David Prest
The Reunion is a Whistledown Production for 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4