No Bevin Boys' medals for the families of deceased men

Honeydog

I think this is shameful.

The Government are issuing medals for Bevin Boys.

The average age of the surviving men is 80 plus.

But if you are a widow or a child of a Bevin Boy then your family member's war effort is not being recognised and you cannot apply for a medal for your late husband or father.

They say it is a survivor's medal meant to be worn by the men themselves. So why have they waited until most of the men are dead before issuing it? A widow could wear it in a Remembrance Day parade!

What I am asking people to do is to ask their relatives how they feel about it. If your Dad/Grandad was a Bevin Boy in the war and he is no longer alive to claim his medal - do you feel that his widow or surviving children should be able to apply for it? Or at the very least purchase one?

If you feel the same way please reply to this or PM me and I'll get in touch with you. I've already written to the Prime Minister and Jeremy Cousins (who is the gentleman in charge of issuing them) If enough people feel the same way then I'll start and run a campaign.

They are applying MOD rules about survivor's medals to civillians and I don't think it is right.

I don't want to get into a debate about the rights and wrongs of it on here. This isn't the place and I'm not going to spend hours typing replies justifying how I feel about my late Dad's war effort.


Thanks,

HD

moonrakerz

What do you expect from this cheap skate Government ?

They did they same for women who served in the Land Army; they won't let ex-Gurkhas live in the UK and the wounded soldiers they sent to Iraq are treated with contempt !

catlover1_2

My grandfather was a Bevin boy and I am opposed to your idea it should only go to the person themselves.

Actually I don't even feel they should get any medal at this point at all.

As you say it was a long time ago so why waste money on medals for people now, better they go to current people for current actions not something that happened so long ago.

trisontana

moonrakerz wrote: »

What do you expect from this cheap skate Government ?

They did they same for women who served in the Land Army; they won't let ex-Gurkhas live in the UK and the wounded soldiers they sent to Iraq are treated with contempt !

Various Conservative governments have had the opportunity over the last 60 years to honour such groups as the Bevin Boys and Women's Land Army. Why didn't they do anything?

bluejake

It is a sign of the times. In my view people nowadays seem to want attention and want to wallow in psuedo-misery e.g people crying in streets when Diana died. That the people who actually fought the war didn't see it necessary to hand out medals should be enough. The idea that people who weren't even born until decades later should get medals is completely bonkers.

bluejake

moonrakerz wrote: »

What do you expect from this cheap skate Government ?

They did they same for women who served in the Land Army; they won't let ex-Gurkhas live in the UK and the wounded soldiers they sent to Iraq are treated with contempt !

Ex-Gurkas are allowed to stay in the UK. It is the ones who were based in Hong Kong pre 1997 who do not have a right to live here. Why not live in Hong Kong or their own country?(I know why - see below).

The whole point of the UK hiring and training mercenaries from the other side of the world is to get soldiers at lower cost. The mercenaries benefit from far higher pay, training and opportunities than they would have in their own country. After all they wouldn't sign up in the first place if it wasn't a good deal for them. The less developed donor country benefit from the money sent home and that their citizens are receiving training and education and will one day return.

Activist judges have granted them UK equal pay, UK pensions, right to residency, to claim benefits, to get council homes, to get residential care, to get NHS care etc etc. for the rest of their lives. Also, to bring their wives or boyfriends and families here with the same entitlements. It may very spell the end of Gurkas because these costs have to be factored in when deciding if taxpayers money is being used to best effect in the defence budget.

They knew what they were signing up for, why not honour that agreement. Well unfortunately, soft touch Britain is open doors for everyone and British Taxpayers like me will pick up the tab including picking up the bill when foreigners like Gurkas sue the government.

P.S this government that you criticise was the one that granted them the right to residency here.

moonrakerz

bluejake wrote: »

Ex-Gurkas are allowed to stay in the UK. It is the ones who were based in Hong Kong pre 1997 who do not have a right to live here. Why not live in Hong Kong or their own country?(I know why - see below).

The whole point of the UK hiring and training mercenaries from the other side of the world is to get soldiers at lower cost. The mercenaries benefit from far higher pay, training and opportunities than they would have in their own country. After all they wouldn't sign up in the first place if it wasn't a good deal for them. The less developed donor country benefit from the money sent home and that their citizens are receiving training and education and will one day return.

Activist judges have granted them UK equal pay, UK pensions, right to residency, to claim benefits, to get council homes, to get residential care, to get NHS care etc etc. for the rest of their lives. Also, to bring their wives or boyfriends and families here with the same entitlements. It may very spell the end of Gurkas because these costs have to be factored in when deciding if taxpayers money is being used to best effect in the defence budget.

They knew what they were signing up for, why not honour that agreement. Well unfortunately, soft touch Britain is open doors for everyone and British Taxpayers like me will pick up the tab including picking up the bill when foreigners like Gurkas sue the government.

P.S this government that you criticise was the one that granted them the right to residency here.

The Gurkhas are part of the British Army, not the Hong Kong or Nepalese Army.
You obviously have no understanding of military matters, to call these fine soldiers "mercenaries" is deeply insulting to all of them.
Your lack of understanding shows in your inability to even spell their name correctly !

Blacksheep1979

sorry but this is almost as rediculous as people trying to get their great, great, great, great uncle cleared of treason back in XXXX when he did XYZ....

myrnahaz

It's not even a medal - it's a badge.
My Dad was a Bevin boy. He didn't live long enough to get his badge, but he DID get free coal for most of his 21 years down the mines which was far more useful to him and my Mum than a badge.

bluejake

moonrakerz wrote: »

The Gurkhas are part of the British Army, not the Hong Kong or Nepalese Army.
You obviously have no understanding of military matters, to call these fine soldiers "mercenaries" is deeply insulting to all of them.
Your lack of understanding shows in your inability to even spell their name correctly !

This is just the sort of emotional mush that my previous post talked about. I didn't say they were in the Hong Kong or Nepalese Army. They are from Nepal and choose to fight under a foreign flag for more money than they would get serving their own country.

Unlike many other foreigners who have spent their lives fighting for the British e.g Sikhs, Hong Kong Chinese, all variety of Commonwealth citizens they used British Taxpayers money to sue the British Government and have campaigned successfully to been given the right to retire here with their wives and boyfriends and dependents to claim the same benefits and pensions and 'free' health care and housing as those who have lived here all their lives and paid taxes here. 140,000 Nepalis + partners + dependents and increasing. If these rights are granted to everyone who has been part of the British Army then we better start building more care homes and hospitals.

It is not unreasonable to think that a Nepali who has spent his life working in Malaysia should either retire in Malaysia or go home to Nepal. Or that his pension should reflect the going rates in those countries. But the good life courtesy of the soft touch British Taxpayer is obviously preferable.

What this spells is the end of the Gurkas. The British Empire and every Empire before them has always made use of cheap foreign mercenary soldiers. The Gurkas are now very expensive foreign soldiers and sooner or later someone will decide they are too expensive.
When the Government considers the cost of one Gurka soldier they now have to factor in how much providing a care home for him and and his wife and dependants is going to cost, health care, Pension Credit etc etc. I shouldn't of course say him because woman are now allowed to join the gurkas.

No doubt they will not be abolished overnight but they will be reduced and eventually axed because the reason for them to exist has been removed. Congratulations, you can do more emoting now.

bestpud

I'm really not sure what would be achieved by giving the family a medal/badge?

I can see your point about them leaving it too long to issue them to the men themselves though.