Appeal Board Brings Soldiers Ray of Hope

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 375, 8 June 1928, Page 12

Appeal Board Brings Soldiers Ray of Hope

MANY PENSIONS GRANTED OVER 80 AUCKLAND CASES During the past fortnight th« War Pensions Appeal Board ha, been busy in Auckland, and to data approximately 30 cases have been j dealt with. Between 50 and 60 cases have yet to be handled, and the board will probably be kept sitting in Auckland until th® middle of July. Some very gratifying cases from the viewpoint of the re. turned men are mentioned by M r £ H. Sharp, secretary of the Auckland Returned Soldiers' Association, who represents the majority of the applicants before the board, and who tells of the relief brought to the homes of manv ex-soldters. One of the most oustanding instances of a pension long deferred j. that of a man, married, and with three children, who has been suffering from war disability ever- since his return to j New Zealand. I For years he has been endeavouring | to secure a pension, but the Pension. Board has consistently refused his re | quest on the ground that his disability j "’as not the direct outcome of war device. BOARD CONVINCED Evidence has been collected with methodical care, however, and the Appeal Board was last week convinced of the origin of his disability. gl was granted a pension of 3fls a week to be retrospective for seven months’ and to continue for a further aiv months, when he will be re-examined by the Appeal Board. The result of this pension is that a returned man. a woman and three children are elevated from the level of semi-starvation to one of decent living, and the wife is now- able to apply for a pension for the children and herself, while the man may ask for the economic pension. As the wife is at present in hospi al the gift of £uo in pension arrears was like a heaven-sent gift to the disabled soldier. Another man who has been suffering with disability to his feet and at times hardly able to walk, has now been accepted as a genuine war case, and in addition to being granted a pension, he is now in hospital havinc treatment for his complaint, which a. specialist states is easily curable. These are but two of the many cases in which representation to the Appeal Board has brought hope to the homes of returned men. The secretary of the association, Mr Sharp, handles the cases of the men free of cost, and during last year he presented 385 to the board—l 22 of which he won for the men.