Auto Amazon Links: No products found. Blocked by captcha.
Ernest Williams, a 90-year-old former Royal Navy veteran, harbors an enduring sense of injustice regarding his military pension. Despite his advancing age, Williams remains resolute in his fight for what he believes is rightfully his. His battle dates back to the 1980s, spurred by a conversation with his brother-in-law that unveiled the disparity in their pension amounts. While Williams received a discharge date in 1970, his brother-in-law was allocated one in 1972, resulting in significantly different pension payouts.
Williams enlisted in the navy at 18 in 1952, climbing the ranks to Chief Petty Officer over 18 years of service. When the armed forces sought to reduce numbers in 1969, Williams opted for redundancy under program DCI 1187/68. Despite being promised a military pension in addition to the state pension, Williams contends he was unfairly denied the opportunity to leave the forces later, missing out on a more substantial pension due to changed rules.
Williams and his wife estimate around 400 men, including him, were discharged in the ‘first wave’, with 2,600 in the ‘second wave’ in 1972 receiving better pensions. Their appeals to various official bodies, including the Ministry of Defence, yielded the response that his pension calculation was correct based on the rules at the time, leaving Williams embroiled in a decades-long battle for justice. Despite garnering support from Stroud MPs like David Drew, who decried the injustice faced by Williams, the veteran has encountered consistent refusals to revisit his pension entitlement.
His plight mirrors that of other veterans like Jim Monaghan, who fought against similar pension discrepancies in the 1970s. The debate over military pension rules has persisted for years, with discussions in parliament and assertions from Defense Ministers about the complexities and implications of retroactive changes to policies. Despite the challenges and lack of success faced by veterans like Williams and Monaghan, their resolute determination to seek fairness and acknowledgment of past wrongs remains unwavering
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. Blocked by captcha.