Blunder cost war veterans millions

LONDON, Britain -- UK war pensioners have missed out on millions of pounds because of a fifty year blunder, ministers have admitted.

Miscalculations in the Ministry of Defence have cost thousands of British war veterans and their widows significant sums in pension payments.

Tax was incorrectly taken from every soldier injured and retired from the service during major conflicts since 1952.

The veterans affected by the miscalculations include those who served in the Korean War, conflicts in Malaya, Suez, Kenya, Cypress, Aden, Borneo, and Northern Ireland. Some soldiers during the Gulf War may also be affected, the UK Daily Telegraph said.

The blunder was discovered in the mid-1990s by John Perry, a retired Royal Artillery major, who struggled for a decade to have the error recognised by authorities.

"I wrote to the young naval officer who was handling this for his boss and said I am going to carry on with my protest until either I die or the MoD comes to its senses," Perry, who left the Army in 1971 for health reasons, told the BBC on Wednesday.

"I know myself there was a cover-up but there is no way I could prove it in a court of law," Perry said.

The veteran told the Telegraph civil servants had tried to convince him that there were no mistakes in the pensions although he was pointing to the relevant clause in the 1952 Income and Corporation Taxes Act legislation.

Defence Minister Lewis Moonie told the BBC: "I can't really justify [the blunder] in any way. It was a terrible mistake to make and we have done our very best in the past couple of years to put it right."

The defence minister said that it was difficult to see how the pensions were calculated incorrectly especially as there were no similar problems with Royal Navy and the Royal Air force pensions.

"I am quite happy to apologise again to those who are affected. It happened through an oversight in the pensions agency, one which I deeply regret. It happened a long time ago," he said.

Large numbers of those entitled to war pensions, and perhaps their spouse, have past without any knowledge of the blunder, the Telegraph said.

Moonie said the mistake was indefensible and all those owed money, probably including the heirs of veterans and their widows, would be paid,.

The Telegraph said most cases involved sums of between £30,000 and £100,000 pounds, a total of about £50 million.

Around 20,000 records has been examined and miscalculations have been detected in almost 1,000 of them.

Mr. Moonie told the BBC reimbursement payments have already been made to most of the cases identified, including payments to some widows.