One phone call changed everything

Cyril Crampin had no idea that he was entitled to a war pension until he spoke to Blesma decades after he was injured. To show his gratitude, he decided he would include the association in his will.

A newspaper advert caught Cyril Crampin’s eye as he approached retirement. The former Royal Army Service Corps soldier responded to a Blesma advert offering advice about accessing a disabled rail card, but instead Cyril ended up getting help to correct a 36-year injustice after he was injured during National Service. That phone call led to Blesma staff guiding him towards a War Pension that had been denied him after he was involved in a road traffic accident as he left camp for Easter leave in 1955. Cyril, now 89, was knocked off his motorbike by a car overtaking on the wrong side of the road on a blind hill. He was left “unconscious for a week or so and sustained many injuries”, including the amputation of his right leg.

 

“Thankfully, I don’t recall anything about the accident itself – I just remember waking up in hospital and being told very firmly that the Forces were not liable in any way as I was leaving the barracks rather than going to them,” says Cyril, who was based at the Leaton Command Supply Depot, near Shrewsbury, during his National Service. “All those years went by and it was only when I saw the Blesma advert that I was able to finally get the War Pension thanks to the help from members of staff at Head Office.”

Cyril has now been a Member for more than 30 years. He credits the Association with helping him and his wife Hazel, 83, enjoy a fuller life, and has made a gift in his Will to Blesma to show his appreciation.

“Getting the War Pension made a difference to us, and getting it backdated has made our retirement more comfortable,” he says. “Blesma has always been there for us whenever we’ve needed support. I can pick up the phone to Head Office and someone is always happy to help. With a Will, you always look after your family first, but it is good and fitting to remember those who have helped you, and Blesma has certainly done that for us.”

Remembering the Blitz

Cyril, who has attended the Remembrance Parade at The Cenotaph with the Association for a number of years, had an earlier brush with tragedy as a five year old growing up in East London when the family’s shop was hit in a German WWII bombing raid.

“The shop front was completely smashed and my father very nearly lost his life,” says Cyril. “We were in the back room under a table and managed to get out through the back door and get to the air raid shelter,” he says. “It was all very frightening for a five year old!” The family relocated to another part of east London and continued trading, but Cyril would go on to choose a career with British Rail rather than follow in the family business.

He worked in the continental travel department at Victoria Station until he was called up for National Service. He was 18 months into his posting, and riding home on his BSA Bantam, when he was injured. “I don’t remember anything about the accident, which completely changed my life,” he says. “I was going up a hill when a car tried to overtake in the opposite direction. They said I couldn’t have avoided it. The car overturned a few times, but the driver of another car phoned the emergency services and I was taken to a hospital in Rugby.

“They had to amputate my right leg after about a week because gangrene had set in, but I was grateful it was below the knee. Immediately, my attitude was that it was my life and I had to make the best of it.

There was nothing I could have done differently to avoid the crash, my life changed completely in that one moment and I had to focus on recovering.

“Immediately, my attitude was that it was my life and I had to make the best of it”

 “I did get compensation from the driver, but the Army was very clear that it was not liable. They said that if I had been returning to camp, I would have been covered and given a pension, but as I was leaving it was not their responsibility. I assumed that was right.”

A happy and comfortable retirement 

Cyril was fitted with a prosthetic leg at Roehampton Hospital and carried on with his life, meeting Hazel during a trip from London to Sheffield to watch a singer perform. Romance blossomed and the couple have now been married for 63 years, and have two children, six grand-children and two great grandsons. A framed message from the late Queen Elizabeth II congratulating them on their diamond wedding anniversary has pride of place in their front room.

“When I spotted the Blesma advert in a newspaper I wanted a bit of advice about rail tickets, but when they discovered I was an amputee they encouraged me to write to the Ministry of Defence – and to be persistent!” says Cyril. “It took quite a few letters, but after about two years the MoD said I was eligible for the pension, which was backdated. It has given us a happier and more comfortable retirement than we might have imagined.”

Steve Burrell, BSO for London and the South East, is Cyril’s Support Officer. “It was great that we were initially able to help Cyril with his War Pension,” says Steve,“ but we are always assessing our Members’ needs, and last year provided Cyril and Hazel with some equipment to help them get about, as well as an Attendance Allowance for some home help.

“We are committed to always being there for our Members. Cyril and Hazel understand what Blesma stands for and they clearly want to see our work continue into the future. They very much embody our ethos of Member supporting Member.”

It is simple to leave a gift in your Will to Blesma so that the Association can continue its vital work supporting Members. Please see the panel (right) for more information on legacy giving