Colonel NEWMANasked the Minister of Pensions whether his attention has been called to the case of the widow of Sapper Jeffrey, No. 160,129, Royal Engineers, who, after being wounded and discharged, died from septic poisoning, certified by his medical attendant as due to his wound; whether an appeal has been lodged by Mrs. Jeffrey; and has he been able to give same a favourable hearing?
§ Major TRYONThe late soldier made no claim to pension during his lifetime, and died from acute tonsilitis and abscess of the tonsil and neck more than two years after leaving the Army. The widow's claim to pension has been very carefully considered by my medical advisers, but the Ministry were unable to accept the cause of death as being connected with the late soldier's military service, or with the wound in the knee, which he sustained in 1917. The widow's appeal against the decision of the Ministry will shortly be forwarded, together with all the evidence obtainable, to the independent Pensions Appeal Tribunal for hearing.