Veterans forced to fight on ... against Whitehall

But with one in four coming back from war with mental illnesses, the need for accurate assessments for war pensions is more important than ever.

David Gibbs, 86, from Leeds, a former member of the RAF, knows today's soldiers could be in for a long fight. "I feel sorry for every soldier who goes to fight for this country because they will have to struggle with the Government when they need help the most."

Mr Gibbs wanted to be an air-gunner in the Second World War but a medical revealed he had a problem with his eye, so instead he was stationed at an Officer Training Unit in Dundee.

"Because the pilots there were still training they were making mistakes," he said. "Many of the lads could get the planes into the air, but landing them was different matter. When they crashed I would be told 'go out and bring back anything you can find.'

"I had a canvas bucket with a rope handle and wooden tongs, picking out bits of body parts from the wreckage.

"One time a Canadian pilot came in to land and was going too fast. He crashed into the ground, leaving a big hole. We would have to get into the crater and try and find his tags so we could identify him. There were bits of flesh all over the place.

"The one incident that has always stuck in my mind and haunted me ever since was when I was in the morgue and I saw a pilot in a coffin.

"His hands were trembling and I said to the doctor in charge 'he isn't dead'. He said 'he will be once we get the lid on'."

During his leave in 1944, Mr Gibbs suffered a seizure and was taken to St James's Hospital in Leeds. Shortly afterwards he was discharged from the airforce for being unfit for duty.

"At that time I was told I had psychoneurosis, but this was changed to obsessional neurosis – an illness not recognised at the time as being attributable to my time in the military, meaning I got no pension."

It wasn't until 1986 that Mr Gibbs finally won his fight to receive a war pension. "I was asked to attend an appointment where I thought I would be assessed for my mental conditions. But when I got there I was confronted with two ageing doctors, who would be making my assessment.

"I asked them whether they were psychiatric experts and they said, no, they were GPs.

"I tried to explain to them that I needed to be assessed by a psychiatrist because of my illnesses, but they just gave me an ordinary medical, testing my reflexes and my blood pressure.

"They decided, despite having no expertise in psychiatry, that I would be entitled to a one-off payout and classed my illness at between six and 14 per cent disabled.

"I couldn't believe that two doctors who had no training in psychiatry could tell me how mentally sick I was.

"It's even more appalling that all these years later that's still the norm for these assessments."

It took Mr Gibbs another 15 years of tribunals and letters to the Government to have his case properly assessed, where it was finally recognised he was suffering from a personality disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, general anxiety disorder and enduring personality change – all as a result of his experiences in the air force. He even found out he should not have been allowed to join up in the first place.

Today he is continuing to battle the Government because his pension, which he now receives at the 40 per cent bracket as a result of his tribunals, was only back-dated to his initial assessment in 1986. If he wins and the Government is forced to pay his pension all the way back to 1944, he could receive 250,000.

"I could have had this whole sorry episode resolved years ago, but the Government have dragged their heels to save some money, and I've had to spend my whole life time fighting because of the assessments of under-qualified doctors."