[jambutty]

Yes Bazf the badge was free but qualifying for the badge was not free.

In my case it cost me 13 years of my home life. Many people gave their life and many gave their health. They deserve better than a lapel badge but if that is all that they will get then it should at least be ‘fit for purpose’ and not a reject.

If the MOD is going to give a certificate they could at the very least have made it personal – that is have the rank, name and number printed on it and possibly the regiment or which arm of the armed forces and dates of service. If I can alter the certificate to include those extras, they can print one at the outset.

What really gets up my nose is that the surviving spouse of a veteran is not allowed to claim a badge and certificate posthumously unless s/he is in receipt of a War Pension paid by the Veterans Agency. If anyone at all is deserving of the award it is the surviving spouse.

The whole episode has been done on the cheap. Then again what can you expect from a government that sends our troops to fight a war in Kuwait and then to try and keep the peace in Iraq with rifles that jam after a few shots, not enough body armour to go around and ask them to patrol a dangerous area in Land Rovers that offer no protection whatsoever?