Dear LPG,

I read an article in the Daily Mirror on 24^th April this year.  It was small but informed that many may have missed out on a pension that they may be entitled to.   The article explained that many veterans who were in the armed forces between 1949 and 1960 are not claiming a war pension to which they are entitled.   

I fitted that criteria because I was one of the many who had found myself a job in which I was just beginning to settle, when I was called up and conscripted at the age of 18. My 2 years’ service was certainly not given by choice, and though some opted to stay on, I admit to being quite ready to leave at the end of my compulsory stint, but having read a story like that I had to wonder if I was one of those who may have a little pay out due.  I stress that I did not expect to have won the lottery, but I thought it was worth enquiring.

When I phoned SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, I was given the  telephone number of the veteran’s welfare services 0808 1914 218 who informed me that I did not qualify because I was not actually injured in any way while in the army, but the Daily Mirror are partly right.   Many people, who were injured while serving their country, even if they did not enter the service voluntarily, are entitled to pensions which they are not receiving, and in this day and age of austerity, any increase in income needs to be addressed.

The article was quite small and, I am sure that many don’t read the Daily Mirror, which is the reason that I felt it a good idea to ask LPG to highlight this issue in the hope that a few more pensioners who were in the military, by choice or otherwise, can be made aware. 

 CP, Lee

LPG found some information which informs that the pension also could be due to civilians, nurses and civil volunteers who were injured during the Second World War. Please see the linked information below…

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