The tribunal papers provide rich detail about the struggles that many servicemen faced on their return to civilian life
In the heat of the second battle of the Marne in July 1918, Lance Corporal William Wilson of the Black Watch carried messages between his company and battalion headquarters. His route took him through woods and undergrowth saturated with gas, leaving his eyes scarred and his vision permanently impaired. As he waited with bandaged eyes to be evacuated, William may not have foreseen the battle for compensation he would face when he returned home.
War pensions were a vital source of income for disabled ex-servicemen like William, but many struggled to meet the strict eligibility criteria set by the ministry of pensions, leaving men dissatisfied with their treatment by the state. In 1919, pension appeal tribunals were established to allow ex-servicemen and their dependants to challenge these decisions. National Records of Scotland (NRS) holds around 30,000 tribunal records which cover the duration of Scottish tribunals from 1919 to 1932. Due to finish in 2020, a cataloguing project funded by the Wellcome Trust will make these records fully accessible for the first time.