leaving there, on every occasion we slowly made our way to the Lyon's cafeteria opposite the House of Commons for a cup of tea, in the hope it would revive me sufficiently to make the journey home.
We usually sat at a table of the Lyon's tea-shop window which was facing the House of Commons, yet the thought never entered either of our heads that we should draw our local Member of Parliament's attention to the extra health damage being caused by the war disability Medical Board system. We must have been too tensed and anxious about how Elsie would manage to get me home without my collapsing to have given any thoughts in that direction, especially having to use public transport, as we could not afford to think of calling on the London taxi-cab service, at the same time knowing nothing about the expected percentage of gratuity to be given, never ever having had sufficient money to spend on that means of travel.
Elsie was so worried about the possibility of me collapsing in the street that she tried to persuade me to call in at the nearest hospital. I pointed out that I could not face up to more questioning about my condition, and it would be better if I rested for some time before boarding buses, trams, or the underground railway, to return home. There was also the risk that I might be detained at the hospital; Elsie would then be left alone for some time; it may also have resulted in the loss of my job and a large hospital bill for us to pay.
Elsie suggested that I should tell the Medical Board they can keep the war disability pension, adding, "I am not going to let them destroy you like this for such a small amount of begrudged compensation, we will get by somehow, I feel sure something will turn up for me soon whereby I can help out with our income." I pointed out to her that my earning ability was now greatly diminished, so to tell the Medical Board what to do with their war disability pension would not only reduce our weekly income which was already very low, but would be playing into their hands and would assist them to achieve what they had set out to do.
The Medical Board interviewers only concerned themselves with the affects of Psychoneurosis on me, greatly intensifying the weakness of my nervous system by their third degree interrogations. They never ever gave me an overall medical examination when I attended, so they did not see my swollen ankles, or consider other war inflicted ailments which were continuously troubling me, showing no interest beyond trying to confuse me in their effort to find a reason for terminating my war disability pension.
They were not aware that the state of my nerves was combined with the lingering influence of Malaria, which I had been told was with me for life, and the after affects of the long term emptiness of my stomach during the Siege of Malta, which was continuing to cause me considerable discomfort, and still does.
They were completely unaware of the fact there was a deterioration in the standard of my hearing, my sight, my throat, and my sense of smell, all of which have never fully returned to normal. They were also unaware of the headaches which I had accepted as something I must learn to live with, the nightmares, the fact that I had to wear larger shoes and socks because of my swollen ankles, and that my teeth were decaying so rapidly that by the age of thirty, all the remainder after the upper half denture plate had been fitted by the military Dentist at Ramsgate, had to be extracted to leave me having to wear a full set of dentures for the rest of my life. There was very little of my body which did not make a habit of reminding me something was wrong with it which had been brought about by my well-above-average traumatic years of war service with HM Forces.
The pension authorities would automatically treat one with suspicion if there were no obvious physical disabilities such as loss of limbs. My war service records and medical down-grading by a previous Medical Board at Ramsgate in Kent from "A1 fit" to "E," unfit for further military service, immediate discharge, should have been more than sufficient to convince war pension authorities of my entitlements without my being called upon to endure the misery of having to attend annual Medical Boards.