A FORMER Army officer from Colchester is campaigning for fair and equal compensation for wounded soldiers.

Only soldiers injured since April 2005 qualify for payments under the new Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. Troops hurt before that date qualify only for much-reduced sums under rules dating back to the First World War.

Col Richard Kemp has launched the Lives on the Line campaign to put back the qualifying date to 2001, covering all operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The former Colchester Royal Grammar School pupil said: “Soldiers doing the same job in the same place and fighting the same enemy, but at slightly different times, are being treated completely differently.

“I do not see how this is fair and everyone I have spoken to who is not a bureaucrat agrees.”

Col Kemp has previously campaigned for the creation of a medal to honour soldiers wounded or killed in action, leading to the introduction last year of the Elizabeth Cross for the families of dead soldiers.

“Soldiers volunteer to go into battle in our names and do extremely difficult jobs in challenging circumstances,” he said.

“They put their lives on the line and when things go wrong we should do everything we can as a nation to look after them and recognise the sacrifices they make.”

Col Kemp, who commanded British troops in Afghanistan in 2003, said “it would not break the bank,” to extend the compensation scheme.

The campaign’s Facebook group has attracted 2,442 members, while 359 people have signed a petition on the 10 Downing Street website.

Colchester MP Bob Russell has tabled an early day motion in Parliament in support of the campaign, which has been signed by 15 MPs from all parties.

“Whenever dates are used there is always someone who falls on the wrong side and this particular example seems very unfair and artificial,” he said.

“It is completely inappropriate that soldiers injured four years after operations began in Afghan-istan qualify, but not those who suffered the same injuries on the same battlefields before that date.”

The MoD argues the scheme is designed to compensate all injured soldiers and is not linked to operations, while it would be impossible to find a date to start the scheme that would not cause objections.

Veterans minister Kevan Jones said a recent review led to increased payouts and boosted lifetime income payments to reflect promotions a wounded soldier would miss out on.

* To support the campaign visit http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/livesontheline/ or join the Lives on the Line group on Facebook