Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

Did you serve in HM Armed Forces up to and including 31st December 1954?

If so you can claim a Veterans Lapel Badge that can be worn on civilian clothes.

If you served between1/1/55 and 31/12/59 you will be entitled to a badge with effect from 27/6/06. They cannot accept applications from veterans within this new criteria until then so please do not send an application now.

Have a look at http://www.veteransagency.mod.uk/vets_badge/vets_badge.htm for details.

I’m sending for mine.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

My father was based in Singapore in the early 50s and saw active service in Malaya during the Emergency. He died at the age of 65 a few years back; regrettably you can’t order the badge posthumously.

I don’t think it’s a bad idea for those that are proud to have served there country and want feel part of a brotherhood of service men and woman, but I can’t help thinking that it’s a little late in the day for many and far to little a recognition for the debt that our service man and woman paid during and after facing conflict.

I’m happy to see an opportunity for veterans to be recognised as such every day as opposed to just on Remembrance Day, but I would much prefer to see and increase in pensions and state support for them rather than the badge alone.

That said it’s a good looking item and I’m envious that I won’t ever have one of my own.

Nice link, cheers Mr Butty. :)

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

its an excellant link jambutty and better late than never i say, though war widows who get a pension can apply doug (if i read it correctly) so thats summat i suppose. pity they havent issued one for the mods @rockers conflict in the mid 60s.;)

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Our servicemen and women have always been badly treated once they have done their bit and none more so than the men and women of the Merchant Navy Doug. The Merchant Marine lost more sailors than the Royal Navy during WWII.

I agree with you that it is too little and far too late and the stingy gits should make the award to everyone who served, especially those who paid the ultimate price. It would be something for their heirs to treasure. After all how much can the lapel badge cost to produce?

But then that’s always been the case with the armed services from time immemorial. The generals and admirals get a chest full of ribbons and medals for sitting in offices sending the men to their deaths and injuries. The men and women do the fighting and dying whilst the top brass get the medals.

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Excellent info JB.I'll definitely be applying for my badge having served in the RN from 1951 until 1963. Many thanks. T.C.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

Aye Aye.............I trust the mainbrace will be sliced (in the Stag) once you get it!

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

On Monday the 19th June, instead of using the form that I had downloaded to send to the Veteran’s Agency by snail mail (Yet another QUANGO but at least this one serves a useful purpose) I opted to give them a ring at Thornton-Cleveleys – an 0800 number so it were FREE. They took down my details like D.O.B, service number (the one that you will remember on your deathbed) address etc and informed me that the lapel badge would be sent within the next 14 days.

Today the package was pushed through my letterbox. Less than 4 days! Wouldn’t it be nice if other government agencies were just half as efficient?

The package contained a booklet with information for veterans, an A4 sized (ooops! I meant A5 - sorry) certificate and the lapel badge in a box that has a footprint of half the size of a fag packet and about twice as thick. Pity that they didn’t personalise the certificate with the name of the recipient. But then I can do that for myself. Scan the certificate and add my details, then print it out.

The lapel badge is tiny – 25 mm tall and 20 mm wide at the widest point. If they had made it any smaller they would have had to use nano technology to do so. There is a peculiar indentation near the centre and try as I might I cannot undo the clip to get the badge off the card. Is my badge a factory reject and if it is are they trying to say something by sending it?

I rang the agency to inform them of the defective lapel badge and I was asked to return it and they will send me another one.

But let us be grateful that even at this late stage the government has recognised, albeit in a very small way, ex servicemen’s and women’s contribution to the country as it is today. Without them, and I mean those who did the fighting and dying in WWII and not so much those of us who came after, we would probably all be speaking German.

Sadly Tealeaf the mainbrace hasn’t been spliced (not sliced) since the 31st July 1970 when the very last tot of rum was served to the men of the Royal Navy.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

Not impressed, my grandads dead now, so it's too late, and to add insult my nan can't even claim it to put with his medals.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

I don’t think that the veterans are bothered whether you are impressed or not Madhatter.

I’m sorry that your granddad has died but we all have to go at some time. I’m sorry that your nan can’t claim a badge on his behalf but a line has to be drawn somewhere. Although I think that a living spouse or child should be able to claim the award on the deceased behalf.

In any case this award is not about you but about those who gave their lives and health and were prepared to give their lives and health just so you could be unimpressed with a tiny recognition of what they did.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

Like you J.B. I phoned the 0800 number, and was informed by a lady receptionist that after leaving my address and phone number that I would be contacted. By Tuesday afternoon ther had been no contact, so I rang the 0800 number again. I was spoken to by a man named John, who seemed surprised at the treatment that I had previously received. He took my particulars, D.O.B. service number etc, and informed me that I would receive my badge in approx. 14 days. Here's hoping I get the same express service as J.B.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

exactly and those that gave their lives, their whole lives or part of their lives and have later died would want their spouses to be able to claim this on their behalf. He did his bit and now can't claim his badge, and can't get anyone to do so for him.
veterans should be bothered, because i'm avoice of the family of a dead veteran, and many other members of veterans families will be unimpressed and hurt too.
When I first read this, I thought great, nan will be really happy that she can get this, it will make her so proud, but no, silly me, thinking they'd actually care about the ones that survived and later died, and the families of.
wear it with pride jambutty, it will probably be the last token of recognition you'll ever get off this country.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

Nice to see you were one of the greenies J.B. I was LEM/AIR L/FX903600.
My vets badge arrived this morning. Just four days after application. Arrived in a well padded envelope. Fastening device on badge is old type safety pin with roll over locking device. Very pleased with it, and it will be worn at all times with pride. best wishes and thanks. T.C.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

Tomorrow the 27th June 2006 is the HM Armed Forces Veteran’s Day.

As far as I am aware there will be no parades or a minute’s silence or a service by a war memorial but that doesn’t matter.

Could people spare just a few seconds from their busy lives to reflect and appreciate that but for those veterans their busy lives would probably have been vastly different to what they are today?

I wanted to become an electrician (air) T.C. but the powers that be decided that my aptitude test qualified me for the radio/radar maintenance part.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

Today is one of the few days in a year where I was up and about before 8 o’clock but it did mean that I was able to listen to an early morning news bulletin and pricked up my ears for one item.

According to that bulletin, earlier this year, Gordon Brown decided that 27th June 2006 would be the first of a regular annual day to celebrate Veteran’s Day. The 27th was chosen because it is the day after the day that the first VC was awarded on 26th June 1857, as decreed by Queen Victoria.

To facilitate the distribution of the award the Veterans Agency (a Quango) was formed but it would appear that their brief is only to respond to claims and not contact all ex servicemen and women who qualify for the award.

If it weren’t for the chance reading on BBC Ceefax about the award I would have known nothing about it. It just goes to show how much the government value those veterans of years gone by. As usual a government initiative has not been thought through and only living veterans can make a claim leaving the remaining spouse and children outside of the loop.

As much as I appreciate the gesture, small that it is, it is an absolute scandal not to award the lapel badge posthumously so that the surviving spouse or child (if the spouse is dead) of the veteran can claim the award on behalf of the veteran. That really is mean and stingy. After all how much can the badge cost? I’ll bet that it costs more to run the Quango than it does to supply the lapel badges.

In fact the Veterans Agency is duplicating what the three arms of the armed forces ex-servicemen and women welfare organisations already do. Namely that an ex-serviceman or woman can invoke the help of the welfare organisation should they need it for whatever reason.

I have written to the Veterans Agency and my MP to point out the scandalous omission and ask that it be corrected.

It would be helpful if other recipients of the award did the same.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

My replacement lapel badge arrived this morning and I opened the padded jiffy bag with eager anticipation and stone me IT WAS THE SAME BADGE THAT I SENT BACK.

I know that it was the same one because before I sent it back I put a tiny mark on the card that held the badge. Yes I know I’m a suspicious old cynic.

Further evidence is that no matter how I try the clasp will not undo.

Is this how they treat we Veterans?

Obviously it is!

Aaaaaaaarrrggghhhh! and Aaaaaaaarrrggghhhh! again.

And now all the phone lines are busy.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

The saga of my Veterans Lapel Badge continues.

I eventually got through and presented my complaint to a sympathetic lady. She promised to send another replacement badge.

The badge duly arrive this morning and you won’t believe this but it is exactly the same as the original in that it has an identical dent and the clasp will not undo. The complement slip signed by a J Chadwick completed the package.

Is it not beyond the wit of these people to actually have a look at what they are sending before they send it, or is that just too much trouble? They must surely realise by now that they have a bad batch of badges. Does no one care? Obviously not!

This ‘Executive Agency of the Ministry of Defence’ whom I praised for their efficiency in dispatching badges have gone right down to rock bottom in my estimation.

Did you get your badge TC? Was it OK?

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

Got my badge in perfect condition. Changed to different jackets withot any problems whatsoever. Hope that you soon get it sorted.
Best wishes.............T.C.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

Thanks TC!

I’ve just looked at their web site and although the picture is quite small it certainly looks like that badge has a dent in the face. I didn’t notice it before.

My email to the VA has just gone. I suppose that after they read it on Monday they will send the Shore Patrol round to try and arrest me.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

There is definitely no dent in the face of my badge J.B. The fastener on my badge is the old pin type, brazed on to the metal badge those that were used on the old brooches, with a roll over safety device so that the pin cannot jump out of the fastener. Obviously , I must have received a pin out of a different batch from yours. Try pointing this out to your connection at the V.A. to see if you can procure a badge similar to mine. Best of luck, ........T.C.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/a...vets_badge.jpgwhere's the dent jambutty?

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

Have a look at the picture with my post #7 Madhatter. Just under where the two swords cross there are two bright coloured splodges. Or if you look at your picture you will see two dark splodges. Those are two dents in the face.

Can you have a closer look at yours TC?

However the saga of my Veteran’s Lapel Badge continues.

I did not get a response to my email but this morning another package arrived with another badge (I now have three all with dents) and a complement slip that reads:

Quote:

Mr Buckley I enclose another Veterans Badge. I have opened it for you and there is nothing we can do about the dents since the badge was made in China. Regards

The clasp was undone and I accept that it was my old fingers and less than perfect eyesight that was my problem with the clasp and not the clasp itself.

Made in China! I ask you! Due to the cost no doubt! Doesn’t that say it all? Doesn’t that really show what this government thinks of the Veterans? Do they think that they could buy votes for the next election? Probably!

In accepting shoddy goods this cheapskate government is giving the Veterans a right kick in the teeth. Are we not worth more than that? Are we not worth more than a reject badge? Obviously not!

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

Sorry Jambutty but TC is on holiday for a week so wont be able to answer your post just yet.
By the way i have seen TC's badge and it is the saftey pin type not the center pin type if yours is this type then its the way the pin is welded.
TC's badge is in perfect condition.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

cheap gestures.
That picture is linked straight off the site, accyweb must automatically make it an attachment so I'm not sure wy its changed colour but yes I see and I'd be annoyed. I wouldn't put up with it Jambutty, I'd take it further because the least they can do is make sure they are perfect. To give imperfect badges is an insult.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

Just back from Blackpool J.B. I'm afraid that I must have a different batch to you . The box which my badge came in was headed by a coat of arms, By Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen
Suppiers of Gold and Silver Lace
Insignia and Embroidery
Toye, Kenning and Spencer Ltd
LONDON
FOUNDED 1685.
I very much doubt that this one was made in China J.B.
Saw your letter in tonights Telegraph. Looking forward to the response.
Best wishes T.C.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

you wrote to the telegraph? welldone jambutty, don't you give in.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

So do my three boxes T.C. on the inside of the lid.

But that only means that the boxes were made here. Maybe?

If your badge doesn’t have two small dents in them just underneath the crossed swords then it is obviously from a different batch. Who knows where that batch was made? Actually I have no real objections to the badges being made in China or on Alpha Centauri. What I object to is the shoddy work accepted by a shoddy government.

No I don’t give in on important issues Madhatter until I get satisfaction or it becomes obvious that I am flogging a dead horse. And this is an important issue to me.

I’ve only just started.

The next step is going to be either Granada or BBC Look North or maybe even both but I have to wait to see if my MP gets back to me or even acknowledges receipt of my snail mail letter delivered by hand. So far she has been silent.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

Aren't most things shoddy nowadays though, and we accept them because we don't want the hassle. Look at the hassle I'm getting with my pc for example. I think they know that too. I've stood in argos after christmas, and watched a continuous stream of customers bringing stuff back, so god only knows how many just didn't bother.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

Congrats, Jambutty on getting the letter of the week in the LET. I think that this issue of the Veterans Medals deserves a little bit of coverage in the wider media. If we have such a medal, then surely it should be made here in the UK, by one manufacturer, at a consistant and high quality standard.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

This Veterans Lapel Badge saga just goes on and on.

On the 1st July I emailed the Veterans Agency and it is only today that someone deemed to reply. Could my letter in the Telegraph have prompted the response? After all it was published on the Friday and the VA doesn’t work at weekends so today was the first chance for a response if you ignore all the days of last week. Or maybe it was someone from the Telegraph phoning the VA that prompted a reply to my email? Particularly when you read what the response was.

Quote:

Dear Mr Buckley I am writing in reply to your email dated 1 July 2006, I apologize for delay in replying. I am sorry you are not happy with your new Lapel Badge, I can assure you that the badges are not dented, all the badges are the same, it is part of the design and manufacturing process. We have been advised by some of the older Veterans that they find the clasps are difficult, and are looking at alternatives. The Agency is currently sending out between five and six thousand badges every week, with a 10% quality check being done on all badges being despatched. The purpose of the Veterans Badge is to create a sense of identity among veterans of all ages, the choice of when and where to wear it being the Veterans, it will not be subject to inspection on parade. I hope this answers your query, and puts your mind at rest sufficient to enable you to wear your badge with pride, alongside with thousands of others. Yours Sincerely Casey Bowling Veterans Badge Team Leader

You don’t really want to know my reply.

I visited T.C. this afternoon where I had arranged to show him mine if he showed me his (the badge that is) and sadly his badge is the same as mine – that is with two dents in it in exactly the same place as mine.

But the saga continues. The Telegraph in their infinite wisdom have deemed my letter published last Friday to be the letter of the week and if they do what they did the last time they considered my inane ramblings to be worthy of the letter of the week accolade I got a £10 cheque. I am looking forward to that. Thanks for the congrats Tealeaf.

But there’s more!

The Telegraph emailed me to ask me to get in touch with them tomorrow, as they want to get the full facts and do a story on the “Debacle of The Veteran’s Lapel Badge”. My title not theirs.

Their email stated in part:

Quote:

Thankyou for your email re the veteran's lapel badge. I have contacted the Veterans Agency who said that they are not aware of a manufacturing fault and said you had been sent the same badge as a quarter of a million other people, none of whom have complained. They seem to think you were not happy with the design of the badge rather than any fault. Could you please ring my colleague Jemma on 01254 xxxxxx after 10am tomorrow(tues) or email her at – deleted - to clear the matter up so we can do a story.

Now I KNOW that the Veteran’s Agency KNOWS that there are two dents in the badge. Otherwise why would they try to deflect my complaint by stating that I am not happy with the design of the badge? It’s called spin isn’t it?

Interested parties, please watch this space because I am going to take this as far as Downing Street if necessary. We might be old foggies with failing eyesight and less than nimble fingers but we deserve better than what this government is offering.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

Theres always someone there and till quite late at night, I used to deliver there.
Face facts, you are the only one who complained because the others don't want to cause a fuss, they're just being british and being greatfull for what they've got, which is a badge with the bonus of two free dents.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

by the way did you ask permision to use the picture of the badge in your first post, i'm trusting that you did and that you didn't CHEAT :D

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

Well J.B. I certainly think you've stirred up a hornets nest at the Vets Agency.
How did your call to Jemma go?

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

Much to my amazement I received a reply from Janet Anderson my MP. Things are looking up.

Quote:

Dear Mr. Buckley, Thank you very much for your letter regarding your deep concern over the Veteran’s Badge and the problems you have had with the quality of the badge and the fact that relatives of veterans are unable to claim a badge. I think the best thing I can do to help is to write, on your behalf, to Tom Watson MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence, for his comments and I will forward his reply to you as soon as we receive it. But, in the meantime, if there is anything else I can do to help, please do not hesitate to contact me. With all good wishes,

All those ands! However I can almost visualise the reply. Excuses, excuses, reason why things are as they are blah blah blah but not a single “we will honour our Veterans with a badge fit for purpose and a personal certificate plus the spouse or children of a deceased Veteran will also be able to claim a Veteran’s Badge.”

I emailed all relevant details to Jemma and called in to the Telegraph office on the way back from a dental appointment to allow her to photocopy the letter from Janet Anderson. I also left her a badge to establish that my cause is genuine. Photos or scans do not show the blemish for what it is. Two dents. Unfortunately Jemma had left for the day and won’t be back until Monday so I spoke to a colleague. I took the opportunity to hand the badge over with the question, “Can you see anything odd about this badge?” A fair question I think - without any pointers. She quickly spotted the blemish, as did a few other people.

I am a little surprised that no one from the Telegraph catchments area has seen fit to respond to my letter. Maybe it is the hot weather that is deterring them. More likely apathy.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

Nicola Mott emailed me yesterday to say that her article would appear in today’s Telegraph. So naturally I had to buy one. I’m not a regular Telegraph reader.

What on earth are they up to? The topic is about the Veteran’s Lapel Badge, not me. Fair enough if they wanted to publish a picture of me but so large? My point was about the badge, the certificate and who was eligible to receive both! Not me!

I was also disappointed that there was no mention of the decision not to make the award to a surviving spouse of a veteran who had died or was killed on active service. Nor was there a mention of the anonymous certificates that accompanied the badges. Yet she made a great play of the clasp that defeated me even though she KNEW (because I had told her) that the clasp problem was down to me, old fingers and not as good as new eyesight. She also quoted words attributed to me by the Veterans Agency that I did not make. If that’s the best that the Telegraph can do well ………………..

She couldn’t even make her mind up who Bryan Thompson was. In the article he was the President of the Darwen Royal British Legion. In the email he was branch secretary. Maybe he was both?

However her email yesterday also informed me that the branch secretary of the Darwen branch of the Royal British Legion had invited me to attend their next meeting on 3rd August. You can bet your sweet life that I will be going.

I will see what 3rd August brings and then it will be a phone call to Granada, the BBC and a few emails to the National Press.

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At the Royal British Legion meeting this evening every badge that I saw was the same as mine – that is they all had two dents in them. The President said that he would see what he could do about them. Sadly he didn’t seem too over enthusiastic about his mission but then he wasn’t fussed about his badge. So I can't expect much from that angle.

My email to Messers Penman & Sommerlad of The Daily Mirror (Thursdays) has just gone. I will wait to see what sort of a response I get before approaching Granada or maybe North West Tonight or maybe both.

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Cheap tack, to make it look like they actually care. Bet each one cost 10 pence in china lol. They'll be giving the ones away that no one claimed, in bubble gum machines on the seafront next year.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

You are taking about a badge that was free?

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

ye, he got it a box of cornflakes, which is where it belongs lol
No I don't see it as free, I see it as the man worked bloody hard for it, which involved risking his life. I think it should be made from gold, not chinese tin.

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

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?

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13 years, get some time in, bloody part timers, 22years is the proper amount, plus the Falklands and Gulf War 1. :) I qualified for this piece of junk

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...ngton/56_2.jpg

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did you know dog- kieth hudson bazf, he lives here and did falklands and ireland

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

The thing that came to mind, Jambutty, was the age old saying............if the Services wanted you to have a wife they would have issued you with one! Nothing changes when you are widowed.

I wish you well in your quest, especially on behalf of the relatives. I'm disgusted with the treatment you have recieved but having experienced similar stuff in the past, I can't say I'm surprised.

Use your talent with words and make a difference for all of us.

Go, Jambutty........GO!!!

Re: Calling all veteran ex servicemen!
 

A Red Letter day today. I received a cheque for £10 from the Telegraph with a congratulatory letter. No dent in the cheque and the letter was personalised by being addressed to me.

Veterans Agency/MOD take note!

There comes a time in a serviceman’s life when family takes precedence over country Bazf. My time came in 1967 when instead of signing up for a further 10 years I opted for Civvy Street.

Thanks for your support junetta.