LETTER : War crimes and 'acts of war'
From Mr Hugh Verney
Sir: This is a small postscript to Vera Lynn's Another View (10 August) concerning help available to veterans of the Second World War. The War Pensions Agency basically does a splendid job for those entitled to Disability Pensions. It also has to ensure that War Pensions are not given to those not entitled to them.
May I quote one small anomaly. Entitlement to an annual pension is based upon 50 per cent for loss of one limb and 100 per cent for two. In 1944, I was unlucky that a sniper's bullet through my head paralysed my left side and destroyed hearing in my right ear. I was awarded a 100 per cent Disability Pension for loss of left arm and leg. Ten years later, I applied for increased pension to take account of my loss of hearing. I was told "You already have 100 per cent pension. It is impossible to award you more than 100 per cent."
The logic is bureaucratically irrefutable!
Yours faithfully,
Hugh Verney
Broadway, Worcestershire
10 August
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