A letter to Lady Hollis from South Africa

To Baroness Hollis, 8th July 2002
Work and Pensions Minister,
The House of Lords,
Westminster, LONDON, ENGLAND.

Dear Baroness Hollis,
I am a retired R.A.F. Squadron Leader who flew wartime bombers and was a prisoner of war from August 1940 until the War’s end.

During that time I escaped several times, devised a new successful method of repeatedly sending home information to British Intelligence, spent the last three and a half years in Colditz, and 415 days in solitary confinement after five Courts Martial by the Germans for doing my duty as briefed. Twice I was thrown into a cell having been told, and believing, I was to be shot.

During my imprisonment from age 21 to 26, my country deducted one third of my pay (but taxed the full amount) on the pretext that it would repay the Germans for the paper "Camp Money" they issued us which was useless because there was nothing worthwhile we could buy with it - no food or drink or clothing or "luxuries" like tobacco. To begin with, when we washed our shirts, we wore no shirt - or no socks, or no underpants. That winter on the Baltic Coast was bitterly cold but we were paraded outside, twice a day, to be counted - sometimes in snow with an ersatz bed blanket over our shoulders. No Red Cross food parcels had arrived and we were desperately hungry.

Then letters from home told us how relieved our parents were to have been informed that the Red Cross had sent us warm clothing and how gratefully they were making extra donations to that worthy organisation. We had no knowledge of such clothing.

Eventually, much later, and after personal clothing parcels had arrived from our families, the "Red Cross" bulk clothing consignments arrived and we were ordered to draw it from the German store even in excess of our needs so that it could not be pilfered. We were also ordered, for some unknown reason, to keep a record of who had what. We presumed this was for Red Cross records.

We did as we were instructed and, if the opportunity arose, threw a few items over the wire to Russian prisoners who were perishing from cold and malnutrition. The Germans forbade this and would fire warning shots at us for such indiscipline. The clothing - items such as "long johns" - was, we thought, purchased by or donated to the Red Cross from those manufacturers who made "service issue" clothing because it had that sort of look about it with much of it having a large Red Cross stamped upon it.

Regarding the useless "Camp Money", the general understanding was that if we won the War the Allied Governments certainly would not refund the Germans for paying us this useless "Monopoly Money" which we would even use to poke into the fire to get a light for a cigarette - if we had one!

While I was in Colditz my fiancee married another man. Painful!
At the end of the War our expectations about refund of the pay stoppage was realised - by the Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans - everyone except the British of the U .K. The British Government did NOT repay the Germans NOR did it reimburse us. The Press, at the time, referred to this as "The Great Prisoner of War Robbery". All protests were callously repelled.
On return to England I clamoured with only two other immediately successful R.A.F. ex P.0.Ws to return to flying duties and volunteered and was accepted for "Tiger Force" to bomb Japan. Before our refresher flying was completed the Japanese War ended. I was given command of a Flight of Lancasters and then command of one Squadron after another.

Some months after the War ended, I received a demand from Air Ministry Accounts for payment of the "Red Cross" clothing issued to me in Prison Camps. The demand claimed that the clothing had come from "Service Stores" and the Red Cross was merely the agent for getting it to us. Free issue clothing was only for "other ranks" and not for officers who, therefore, must pay up. I still retain the correspondence.

I was so incensed by this petty act of callous parsimony that I refused to pay. The Air Ministry sent a non aircrew "Wingless Wonder" or "Penguin" Air Commodore (no less!) all the way from London to my R.A.F. Station in Lincolnshire personally to wag a chubby finger in my face. His time and journey had cost far, far more than the piddling amount in question. As politely as I could I told the Air Commodore to "get lost". He blustered that this would be entered on my personal record and could affect my promotion. Perhaps it did. I was never further promoted.

I must admit that I allowed myself to become somewhat embittered and although I performed my flying and command duties well, and taught youngsters to fly jet fighters, I believe my career and my life was adversely affected by my attitude of subdued anger and resentment. I lapsed into sexual indiscretions no worse than Princes and Knighted Pop Stars. I retired voluntarily' from the R.A.F. in 1958. Meanwhile I had been sadly and reluctantly forced into divorce proceedings by my wife - the mother of my two small daughters. I was granted a divorce, and this relieved the Treasury of the necessity ever to pay her any part of my R.A.F. retired pay (pension) if she should become my widow.

Long after the traumatic break-up of my marriage I met my present wife and married her shortly after my retirement from the R.A.F. We were awarded custody of my two small daughters and my present wife has always been a loving step-mother. As far as I, personally, was concerned she "picked up the pieces and put them back together". She is a wonderfully kind woman, now beginning to suffer some health problems.

Far too late to plan adequately to deal with the situation I discovered to my utter amazement, chagrin and disgust, that the British Government had seized upon a callous, disreputable, long since repealed (but NOT retrospectively repealed) clause in the Services Pensions Act which now denies also my present 73 year old wife of forty two years devotion any part of my pension when she is widowed because I married her just after my retirement. This cruel clause now applies only to a very few of us old war-time survivors, but not to younger officers with no War experience, nor, of course, to you Ministers of the Crown nor other Members of Parliament.

On top of all this. because we live in South Africa, both my wife and I are now suffering the injustice of the Frozen Pensions. which you, Baroness Hollis, have recently defended in the House of' Lords. This had also taken us by surprise long after we came here to live and long, long after we became pensionable. One is NEVER warned of these dishonourable "small print.” snares.

According .to the Daily Telegraph. an important reason you give to justify this iniquity is that pensions are funded by current British tax payers.

Madam, I. HAVE BEEN A BRITISH TAX PAYER.NON-STOP FOR THE .PAST 65 YEARS AND I STILL AM. Apart from my very small frozen "Old Age" pension my only income of R.A.F pay is and always has been taxed at source and my RAF retired pay continues to be so taxed. Al1 my working and retired life as a “current British tax payer" I have contributed to the pensions of my retired elders and it is now difficult to understand why the other "current tax payers of Britain. should not contribute to the proper pensions of their elders - like my wife and me! WHY DO YOU PENALISE US FOR LIVING IN SOUTH AFRICA? THE ONLY DIFFERENCE THIS MAKES TO YOU IS THAT WE DO NOT BENEFIT FROM ANY PUBLIC SERVICES -LIKE NATIONAL HEALTH CARE. - There seems to be a calculated disregard for logic, fairness and decency which has permeated the British Treasury mentality all my life.

You, Madam, may accuse me of being an embittered old whinger.

I accuse you, and Baroness Amos recently before you, of being heartless' supporters of BETRAYAL.

I can also only assume that Perfidious Albion rejoices that most malcontent old war veterans like me are fast dying off and will not be irksome much longer.
Do I hear you well paid mollycoddled politicians who see to it that your own terms of service are very cosy saying “GOOD RIDDANCE" ?

I have written about these matters previously, politely and passionately. .I have now exhausted all but the passion.

From Sqn Ldr P. D. Tunstall R.A.F. (Retd).
SOUTH AFRICA