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War hero Bob McGowan, 94, is denied cash to heat his home
A 94-year-old war hero is preparing to hand back his medals after being refused his winter fuel allowance by the government.
Bob McGowan was told that he could not claim the 300 subsidy because he moved into his house one day too late to qualify.
Despite his age and the six years he spent fighting for his country across Europe, Asia and Africa, the Pension Service said it could not show flexibility on the deadline.
Mr McGowan, Brunel Court. Nutfield Road, Fratton, has been waging a battle of principle with Whitehall pen-pushers ever since he was turned down for the fuel support in 2007. He wants an apology from Gordon Brown – or he will post his five medals to 10 Downing Street.
Mr McGowan said: 'I've got to bow down over one solitary day, when I did six years overseas. You'd think they'd make allowances. But they keep saying external factors won't be considered under any circumstances. What hurts me is I did all that time overseas and they ignored it. They think more of one solitary day.
'I'll hold on to my medals if Gordon Brown will apologise, of course. But if I don't get satisfactory answers I will send them. I'd like this saga to end. It's two years, and I've had enough.
'It's the principle of it. I've never had one word of humility. I don't think they know the meaning of the word. They must have hearts of stone.'
To qualify for the fuel allowance people must be at least 60 and resident in a non-supported home during the qualifying week. For 2007/08 this was September 17 to September 23.
During this week Mr McGowan was in supported accommodation, but moved into his own independent home on September 24 – the day after the qualifying week ended. He has written letters to the Department for Work and Pensions appealing for leniency, and in October Mike Hancock MP sent a letter on his behalf – but this too failed to have an impact.
Pensions minister Angela Eagle would not speak to The News about Mr McGowan.
Instead, the department said in a statement: 'People who are aged 60 or over during a qualifying week every year will receive a winter fuel payment automatically. Residents of care homes are not entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment because heating costs are met by the local authority.'
WARTIME SERVICE
Bob McGowan joined up in November 1939, aged 24, at the Park Road recruiting office in Portsmouth.
His first posting was to Egypt, where he was tasked with ferrying troops and ammunition as a driver, before going to the Balkans on attachment to a field ambulance division.
But the British force was overwhelmed by the Nazis, and was forced back to Greece.
He was then taken to Crete on board Royal Navy cruiser The Orion. Mr McGowan said just a couple of days later the ship was hit, with all 400 men on board lost.
He was shipped to Syria, and then sent to relieve Australian forces at Tobruk, Libya, where he spent three months surrounded by enemy forces. He then went to Rangoon, but was called back after the city fell to the Japanese.
After around two months in Burma he went to India, where he spent the rest of the war. He returned to Britain in July 1945, setting foot on home soil for the first time in nearly six years.
In total he spent 2,133 days on active duty overseas.
Once home he was presented with all five of his medals: the Burma Star, the Africa Star, the War Medal 1939 to 1945, the 1939-1945 Star, and the Defence Medal.
BRITISH LEGION: 'DISCRETION SHOULD BE SHOWN BY AUTHORITIES'
The Royal British Legion called for more understanding from the government over Bob McGowan's case.
Roseanne Hanley, from the Welfare Department of the Hampshire Royal British Legion, said: 'We believe discretion should be shown by the authorities when assessing slightly late benefit claims, especially from the very elderly. Many very elderly members of the ex-Forces community are forced, through low income, to ration.
'They're forced to apply to these winter allowances because the income they have means they have to be thrifty, and the government should support them more.'
A spokesman from Help the Aged said: 'We occasionally hear complaints from older people who have missed out on benefits because they were one day short from meeting a deadline or a particular requirement.
'We know some people feel very strongly that this is unfair, but the Department for Work and Pensions state they need to establish cut-off dates to make the administrative machinery work.
'While we know that Winter Fuel Payments are valued by those who receive them, ideally we want to see a system where people have adequate pension incomes and don't need to rely on additional one-off payments in order to meet essential bills.'
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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