WWI War Loans Betrayal: My Great Grandfather Lost Life Savings After Answering Britain's Call of Duty

In 1914, my great grandfather, a headmaster of a school in Manchester, allowed his daughter to become a nurse to help with the war effort.

Her husband, my grandfather, was a second lieutenant in the East Lancashire regiment, who went on to win the Military Cross for extreme bravery and a citation from King George V.

My great-grandfather answered the call of duty in the only way he could: by giving his life savings of £6,000.

A considerable sum at the time and the equivalent of more than £600,000 in today's money, he bought war bonds to help the war effort rather than buy shares in a large company, which at the time could have made him very wealthy.

He trusted the government to repay the loan after the war. One hundred years and four generations later, the family have been unable to receive back from the government the face value of the original £6,000 loan. The Treasury will only pay 75% of the value.

I inherited these bonds in 2001 and have spoken, emailed and written to many MPs, past and present, both Labour and Conservative, to try and obtain justice for all the families in the same situation.

The response on all occasions has been "we don't have too, so we won't", as the bonds were altered some years ago to being open ended with no redemption date (known as perpetual bonds).

Many political parties over the years have promised to resolve this situation, but upon election to government, this issue has been forgotten.

I have tried writing to David Cameron as it is the 100<sup>th anniversary of the outbreak of WWI, to give him the opportunity to right this wrong, but I received the usual response from the Treasury.

The UK has repaid all war loans to the USA, so why won't the government of today honour the promises made in 1914?

I am 57 and it looks as if I will have to pass the war bonds to a fifth generation. The longer this goes on, the debt owed by the government of the day will reduce through bonds being lost, destroyed and families settling through financial hardship.

With all the coverage of the 100<sup>th anniversary this is one area that has quietly been forgotten about. I hope others who read this will be encouraged to lobby their MPs in the hope of fulfilling promises made four generations ago.