REFUSED A PENSION

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 33, 9 February 1943, Page 4

REFUSED A PENSION

SOLDIER WHO HAS LOST LEG WAS RIDING OWN CYCLE (0.c.) INVERCARGILL, this day. When a Gore district soldier was returning to camp on his own motor cycle some months ago he met with an accident, and, as a result, he had to have his right leg amputated above the knee. He was refused a pension by the War Pensions Board and when he appealed against this decision the appeal was dismissed because the legislation did not cover his case. The fact that he was riding his own motor cycle instead of returning to camp in a public conveyance put him "out of court." These facts were revealed at a meeting of the Eastern Southland Zone Patriotic Committee at Gore when a request for financial assistance was received from the soldier concerned. The committee expressed great dissatisfaction about the treatment given the soldier. It was decided to recommend to the Southland Provincial Patriotic Council that some financial assistance be given the soldier, and also to express to the council the committee's dissatisfaction about the treatment received by the man concerned. The secretary, Mr. R. S. Green, in giving the facts about the case, said that the soldier was receiving only £1 a week from the Social Security Fund.