A LAMERTON war veteran travelled to Trafalgar Square last weekend, to help erect a statue of a helmeted soldier with a shattered face as part of a protest about low service pensions. Sgt 'Yorkie' Malone, 62, joined almost 150 angry veterans at the march last Saturday. The former soldiers were trying to highlight what they see as government neglect — including closure of military hospitals and the general lack of support for those injured while serving their country. This protest was part of a political BBC documentary which is due to air in May 2007. Sgt Malone, who features in the programme, was medically discharged from the Royal Marines with trench foot in 1985, after 20 years of service. He said: 'Four years was how long I had to fight to get my war pension. I had to fight for it. 'Then in 1992 I ended up in a psychiatric ward in RNH Haslar with post-traumatic stress disorder. The ward is now closed. 'There are beginning to be no facilities around to treat our blokes, that is, no facilities that will look after them.' Sgt Malone said he wants better war pensions for servicemen and added that he felt war veterans had been 'left to rot' by the Government.
