Is this any way to treat those who fought for their country?

British Legion survey shows how millions of war veterans are living in poverty

As the nation prepares to remember the sacrifices of millions, exhaustive research by the Legion suggests that almost half of veterans and their dependants - 3.88 million - are surviving on less than £10,000 a year. Almost one million have to exist on less than half that amount.

The military charity canvassed 6,218 people, drawn from the ex-service community, the charity's beneficiaries and case workers, to make the first accurate estimate of the size, personal circumstance and welfare needs of the UK's veterans.

It concluded that the ex-service community accounted for approximately a sixth of the population. Many are elderly, but the survey included survivors of the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts as well as 1.74 million dependent children.

The report paints a depressing picture of how a large number are coping with post-military life. Based on its survey, the Legion estimates that nearly half - 4.42 million - have a long-term illness, disability or infirmity, and 530,000 may have mental health problems. Physical problems are most prevalent in the elderly, and psychological troubles such as depression are most noted in those aged 35 to 44.

Opposition politicians described the revelations as disgraceful and called on the Government to rectify an unacceptable situation.

The shadow Defence Secretary, Michael Ancram, said: "It is disgraceful that so many of our ex-servicemen and their families are living on less than the Government says it is necessary to live on. We owe them support and we call on the Government to look for ways of rectifying this unacceptable situation as soon as possible."

The Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, Michael Moore, said: "As we pay our respects and tributes on Remembrance Sunday, it is a disgrace that so many of our brave veterans are reduced to living on such a small amount."

A third of ex-servicemen and women are believed to live alone, compared with the national average of 19 per cent. Eleven per cent of the over-65s reported a lonely existence. As many as 570,000 said they never went out to see relatives or friends, and more than a third of that number did not even get visits from loved ones.

Although a mass of blood red poppies commemorates their sacrifices for a fortnight each year, many old soldiers go back to impoverished anonymity for the remaining months, struggling to cope with the most mundane daily functions. A quarter of those canvassed said they needed help washing and dressing. The study found 84 per cent of veterans were male and 94 per cent of dependants were women, often widows.

Sue Freeth, director of welfare at the Legion, said a key problem was that many were unaware of the benefits they were entitled to. More than half a million members of the community said they received no help, advice or support.

Ms Freeth said: "We must convey more awareness of what is available to them. We need more co-operation between the charitable sector and government agencies."

An estimated 2,300,000 British servicemen and women have been killed since the beginning of the First World War, millions more suffering severe injuries and mental trauma from their experience.

There has only been one year, 1968, since the end of the Second World War when a member of the British military has not been killed on active service. Almost two million lost their lives in the 1914-1918 war, and 403,000 were killed between 1939 and 1945.

Of recent military conflicts, Northern Ireland has claimed 671, the Falklands 239, the first Gulf War 47, the Balkans conflict 70 and Afghanistan four. To date, a further 97 have died in Iraq. Today there are 11 million veterans and their dependants in the United Kingdom.

Lance Corporal David Jones, 30

Rifle Volunteers, Afghanistan conflict

David Jones was with a bomb-disposal team on patrol in Afghanistan last year when they tried to overtake a slow taxi.

As they were passing the vehicle it blew up. L/Cpl Jones was blinded in his left eye and had his eardrum perforated, putting paid to his ambition of becoming a paramedic. "When I woke up in a field hospital and realised I had lost my eye, I more or less accepted it," the Territorial Army soldier said yesterday.

When he returned home, he sought help from the Royal British Legion, which arranged for him to attend a vocational assessment. L/Cpl Jones is now in his second year of a sports therapy degree.

"I knew I couldn't work in my chosen career so I chose to go back to university. Not being able to work full time, I am now trying to get a part-time job so I can survive and pay my mortgage, and I am hoping to get some help to set up my business in sports therapy," he said.

But, as he struggles to make ends meet, he is still determined to go back to performing his Territorial Army duties.

Private Percy White, 74

Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Suez

When Percy White finally sought help, he and his wife were living in a tiny flat with paper peeling off the walls because they could only afford to heat it for a couple of hours a day.

The 74-year-old who served with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps in Suez looked after his wife, Rita - who suffers from arthritis and osteoporosis. But a stroke earlier this year meant he was unable to perform the most perfunctory daily chores.

"I can't use my left arm properly but at least I have got the use of my legs back now," he said yesterday. Having left the Army in the 1950s, Mr White was forced to leave his Isle of Wight home to find work in London. But retirement brought hardships. With an income of £500 a month they spent a fifth of that on council tax alone.

The stroke in February meant he could no longer make the weekly trip to the laundrette or carry the shopping from the supermarket.

The British Legion said the couple were living in "appalling conditions" and stepped in. It got the couple a washing machine and a freezer. It also helped them apply for council tax benefit. Yet Mr White insisted yesterday that he still has luxuries: "We manage to get by. We've got a television, a DVD player and a cassette player. We have been married for 50 years and we have always been happy."

Corporal George Illsley, 81

Parachute Regiment, North Africa campaign. WWII

George Illsley is a typical example of a veteran who survives on little without complaining. Like so many others, he is forced to get by on about £10,000 a year but insists he wants for nothing.

Others, he explained, were much worse off: "There are some out there that are struggling. But I am quite happy."

As a young corporal, Mr Illsley served in the Parachute Regiment in north Africa, losing many of his friends.

He left the Army in 1947, married, and took a job in an engineering firm. Widowed eight years ago, he chose not to live the lonely existence of so many veterans and moved in with his sister-in-law two years later. Together they pool their pensions. "We share the bills. I get a hundred or two a week and I can live comfortably. My sister-in-law is good to me and we still go dancing. If you sit back and stop being active you get old," he said.

Nevertheless he says he knows of others who have struggled and need help with everything from arranging welfare payments to finding convalescent homes.

"We have got the British Legion to help out. I don't think the younger generation really appreciate what we have been through."

Mr Illsley said he felt sad that so many former soldiers and dependants were trying to exist on less than him.

Terri Judd