COMPLAINT MADE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 December 1943, Page 3

COMPLAINT MADE

BY VETERANS OF DESERT CAMPAIGNS REGARDING AWARD OF CLASPS TO AFRICAN STAR. UNFAIR EXCLUSIONS ALLEGED. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, December 3. Veterans of the Desert wars are complaining about the conditions under which clasps are awarded to the Africa Star, says Reuter’s Cairo correspondent. They only qualify for the Star itself, which was also won by permanent base personnel, including the personnel of the women's services. The coveted inverted Vee sign on the ribbon can only be worn by those serving with the Eighth and First armies after the date of the Battle of El Alamein to the cessation of hostilities in North Africa. The men point out that the conditions rule out those who served in General Wavell’s campaign at Tobruk, in General Ritchie’s advance, and in the battles of the Knightsbridge cauldron, but who, because of wounds or sickness, did not participate in General Montgomery’s advance. Tens of thousands of. British and Dominion troops taken prisoner during Rommel’s advance are also excluded.