Page 22 - CAMPAIGN Winter 2021

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CAMPAIGN Winter 2021
Who will see your claim?
Medical advisors (doctors) consider the medical aspects of War Pension claims and appeals.
Lay officers make the final decisions on claims.
Lay officers take advice from the medical advisors based on legislation and policy, or act on certificates provided by medical advisors.
Radiation film badges.
The BNTVA has recently acquired specialist information concerning the specific distribution of radiation film badges to British nuclear test veterans. Not possessing a film badge at a nuclear test or clean-up operation is proven to be common and should have no detrimental bearing on any War Pension claim. The MoD are working on a non-scientific approach of likelihoods and assumptions, which is erroneous and the flaws in this can be proven with little effort on a case-by-case basis.
Post traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) and War Pension claims.
If you believe that you suffer from PTSD as a result of service by witnessing an atomic bomb or radiation incident, or by partaking in radiation clean-ups, then, in the first instance, please see your GP.
PTSD, despite being labelled as a mental condition, is NOT seen as a stigma in present society, and is the same condition as “shell shock”. The BNTVA has heard from high profile GPs and specialists who believe that the majority of British nuclear test veterans suffer with aspects of PTSD.
Did you know that PTSD can aggravate or cause physical conditions such as Type 2 Diabetes?
The online link to Brian's story below shows that sometimes this link can be proven, culminating in the award of a War Pension.
There are mixed views about PTSD and nuclear test veterans by test veterans' themselves. Some nuclear test veterans are very open about their experience of PTSD, whilst others may not suffer from PTSD.
Each individual's experience and perception is unique, and the BNTVA is not saying by any means that all nuclear test veterans suffer from PTSD.
However, there are clear stories and relayed experiences of PTSD from some nuclear test veterans, particularly of veterans who witnessed an atomic or hydrogen bomb blast. PTSD has come under differing labels over the years, from shell shock, irritable heart, psychic trauma to post traumatic neurosis.
On examining past War Pension claims by British nuclear test veterans, our Curator, Wesley, has come across some successful War Pension applications submitted in the 1980s based on psychic neurosis, so PTSD is a recognised condition for an award for nuclear test veterans. The chart (courtesy of PTSD Support | Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1122) shows symptoms of PTSD. You are not expected to experience every symptom, but an overlap of symptoms from each category.
Next steps.
If you would like to talk to the BNTVA in confidence about any of the points raised, then please contact via the website, info@bntva.com or 0208 144 3080. If you are unable to print War Pension forms, then we can send you a copy to complete or help you complete them if that is what you require.
Brian's story of PTSD influencing his Type 2 diabetes.
https://weareadvocate.org.uk/Brians-story.html
Link to war pension forms (4 pages and 22 pages)
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/war-pension-scheme-wps
https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service- records/apply-for-someone-elses-records
http://traumadissociation.com/ptsd/history-of-post-trau- matic-stress-disorder.html
War Widows’ Pensions.
You are eligible to apply for a War Widow’s pension if you believe that your husband’s illness was “military attributable” and that they died “as result of their service in HM Armed Forces before 6 April 2005.”
You must complete
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/up- loads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/929060/WPS000 4WWP_-_Online_version.pdf
This form is available from the address for Veterans UK above. If you are unsure of anything, please contact the BNTVA.