Thanks Spider. Apparently the best place to be a war disabled Vet, is in Canada. Where they get rates and allowances that we could only dream about. Perhaps some Canadian Friend could tell us? Sapper, A Canadian Veteran who is deemed 100% disabled receives the following each month: $2478.08 His or her spouse receives $619.52. In addition, 1st child receives $322.15. 2nd child $235.42 and 3rd child $185.86. I will upload the document from Veteran's Affairs later today. Best regards from the colony, Randy
Thanks Spider. Apparently the best place to be a war disabled Vet, is in Canada. Where they get rates and allowances that we could only dream about. Perhaps some Canadian Friend could tell us? Brian, I just emailed the document to you. You should take it to your local Member of Parliament and see what can be done to increase pension amounts paid to British Veterans. Here is the linkDisability Pensions - Veterans Affairs Canada Cheers from Canada Randy
Drew. Thanks for your PM. This is one of the more "Way out operations that the RE have taken on"... No one would ever believe such high flying stories. I though that everyone had heard of the "garden roller man" nevertheless; here it is again for those not aware. Cheers The Garden Roller Man! Oh God! What next? Next, someone came up with the idea of using a long handled garden roller. (Please do not stop reading, (thinking this is too far fetched) because it is perfectly true! A garden roller was obtained that had a long handle fitted, spikes had been welded on the drum and the operator had a cut down gas mask to protect his eyes, then, a woven rope protector was fitted round the groin, with the addition of long sleeved gauntlets to complete the ensemble. The idea, was to push this contraption along in front of you and as the weight of the roller set off the mine, it would jump up in the air on its swivel and drop down again without causing injury, believe it or not, this did actually work, but how often are you likely to find a bit of ground flat enough to successfully use it? At this point you may think "What a load of rubbish" and that is just what it sounds like! Rubbish. Apart from the fact that I was one of those soldiers who pushed this blasted thing. Imagine if you can, a cold and wet battlefield with all hell let loose, and this lonely soldier bravely pushing this bloody garden roller all by himself. Much to his mates amusement. No. No, we knew the best way to remove them, get a huge armoured bulldozer, drop the blade and cut a deep furrow in the ground, when the mines exploded they did no damage at all. If, dear reader, you think this is a bit "way out" then let me tell you that to counter the threat of these mines, they also tried running a bren gun carrier up and down over the mines, all that succeeded in doing, was to blow its tracks off. The garden roller device was demonstrated in front of the Deputy Commander in Chief. Air Vice Marshal Tedder. Result: The war diaries of the company state "The garden roller experiment was a washout"! Sapper Ps no one would ever believe this..So I paid £76 to get the war diaries, and its all there.
As an adjunct to the previous posting. Sadly the war dairies contained no mention of the operation: where we went deep into the enemy territory with our "Gramophone" all night laying amongst the rushes, in the stinking Dutch river Maas mud. sapper
Brian- Just hate like hell to burst your pension bubble so early on a monday-BUT- to compare the allowances for a Canadian disabled Vet to yourself - would make you cry....however - it has to be done just to show how niggardly the British Governments are- and always have been in treating the people who serve ..so Canadian 100% = $2478 .....Brit = 1,568 GBP Spouse = $619...................391 GBP 1stChild= $322...................203 GBP 2nd = $235...................148 GBP 3rdd = $185....................117 GBP Totals = $3839:...............2,427: GBP ??? PLUS - ALL medications- vision - prosthetic -nursing - home support ( Cleaning etc.) hearing-Dental - Ambulance costs -the list is a long one ....... as I showed you during my visit last May... I wouldn't show my MP though- it's way too embarrassing.... Cheers mate - love to Sheila - and tell her not to spend all her allowance on an ice cream ! PS - there's hell on at the moment over here as the price of Petrol has just shot up to $1.15 per litre - that's about 0.77 in your money..shheessh !
As an adjunct to the previous posting. Sadly the war dairies contained no mention of the operation: where we went deep into the enemy territory with our "Gramophone" all night laying amongst the rushes, in the stinking Dutch river Maas mud. sapper I thought you said you got the diary to prove to someone that it happened-I'll get you a copy of the diary next week anyway Brian-I'll post it up in the Royal Engineers section of the forum. Cheers Andy
Ambulance costs That is definately free in the UK. No one gets charged for transportation as an outpatient in the UK.
Dont bother Drew. There is no record of the stunt. Indeed there is precious little recorded of what went on...Sadly. As I said, huge bundles of paper with no records at all, still up in my bedroom. Cheers Tom mate.... Always nice to hear from you. Sheila sends her love. Sapper
Dont bother Drew. There is no record of the stunt. Indeed there is precious little recorded of what went on...Sadly. As I said, huge bundles of paper with no records at all, still up in my bedroom. Cheers Tom mate.... Always nice to hear from you. Sheila sends her love. Sapper No worries Brian-I'm there all week so no trouble to pull them out and have a butchers.
Cheers. I found that the war diaries contain little about what went on certainly not about our forays into enemy territory. But Only have those up to a certain date
[FONT="]Friday, 11 March 2011 VA015 [/FONT] [FONT="] [/FONT] [FONT="]VETERAN PENSION RATES TO INCREASE ON 20 MARCH [/FONT] [FONT="] [/FONT] [FONT="]More than 330,000 veterans, partners and war widows/widowers will receive increased pensions and income support payments from 20 March 2011, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Warren Snowdon said today. [/FONT] [FONT="]“This Government is committed to the support for our veterans and their families, and I welcome this increase and the assistance it will provide to those who need it most. [/FONT] [FONT="]“This increase sees single service pensioners receive an extra $13.20 a fortnight, since the last indexation in September. [/FONT] [FONT="]“Couples on the service pension now receive an extra $19.80 a fortnight, bringing the combined pension to $1099.40,” Mr Snowdon said. [/FONT] [FONT="]Veterans will begin to benefit from the increased pension rates from 20 March this year and veterans should be aware that their payments will change in coming weeks. The payment on the pension payday on 24 March 2011 will be a combination of the old rates and the new rates. Therefore, the first full payment at the new rates will be on the pension payday 7 April 2011. [/FONT] [FONT="] [/FONT] [FONT="]The table below highlights the changes to some of the key rates per fortnight. Pension [/FONT] [FONT="]Old Rate [/FONT] [FONT="]New Rate 20 March [/FONT] [FONT="]Increase[/FONT] [FONT="]Service Pension - single [/FONT] [FONT="]$716.10 [/FONT] [FONT="]$729.30 [/FONT] [FONT="]$13.20 [/FONT] [FONT="]Service Pension - couples [/FONT] [FONT="]$1,079.60 couple[/FONT] [FONT="]$1,099.40 couple [/FONT] [FONT="]$19.80 [/FONT] [FONT="]$539.80 each [/FONT] [FONT="]$549.70 each [/FONT] [FONT="]$9.90 [/FONT] [FONT="]War Widow Pension [/FONT] [FONT="]$725.10 [/FONT] [FONT="]$738.70 [/FONT] [FONT="]$13.60 [/FONT] [FONT="]Income Support Supplement [/FONT] [FONT="]$216.60 [/FONT] [FONT="]$220.80 [/FONT] [FONT="]$4.20 [/FONT] [FONT="]Special Rate (TPI) Pension [/FONT] [FONT="]$1,092.90 [/FONT] [FONT="]$1,113.70 [/FONT] [FONT="]$20.80 [/FONT] [FONT="]Intermediate Rate Disability Pension [/FONT] [FONT="]$741.60 [/FONT] [FONT="]$755.80 [/FONT] [FONT="]$14.20 [/FONT] [FONT="]Extreme Disablement Adjustment [/FONT] [FONT="]$603.30 [/FONT] [FONT="]$614.80 [/FONT] [FONT="]$11.50 [/FONT] [FONT="]100 per cent General Rate of Disability [/FONT] [FONT="]$388.30 [/FONT] [FONT="]$395.70 [/FONT] [FONT="]$7.40 [/FONT] [FONT="] [/FONT] [FONT="]Pensions are indexed twice a year in March and September to the highest of three measures: the Consumer Price Index (CPI), Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE) and the Pensioner and Beneficiary Living Cost Index (PBLCI). The March pension indexation increase is driven by wages growth in the six months to November 2010. The indexation reforms introduced by this Government have delivered a fairer pension system. [/FONT]
