Former Bermuda Regiment captain Larry Burchall last night defended the Island's war veterans' association against claims that it has misled donors and cherry-picked which former soldiers to help.

The newspaper columnist and retired Defence Administrator explained that Bermuda War Veterans Association (BWVA) was only able to give funds to soldiers who have seen active service and not all Islanders who have served in the forces.

The Royal British Legion (RBL) — a global charity based in London which assists war veterans and ex-servicemen and women — told BWVA last year that its aims and objectives were incompatible with those of the legion and that it was inappropriate for it to take part in the annual fundraising poppy appeal.

Letters obtained by The Royal Gazette reveal that it told BWVA it was unhappy that it was not helping soldiers who served on the home front rather than overseas and believed it had "seriously misled" donors and accumulated funds using the poppy emblem which were not distributed as they should have been.

But Mr. Burchall said the criteria used by the veterans' association to determine who to assist was simple. "There is confusion over the use of the word 'veteran'," he said. "In UK and US usage, a 'veteran' is a military person who has served in a war or in an operational zone. An ex-serviceman is a person who has simply served in the military. The RBL's charter requires it to serve 'veterans' and 'ex-servicemen'. The BWVA's mission is to serve 'veterans'."

Mr. Burchall said Bermuda had a small number of true World War Two "veterans" whom the BWVA, which strenuously denies any wrongdoing, had helped over the years — but that it was beyond the organisation's remit to assist those who had not served in a war zone.

He added that all 6,500 ex-members of Bermuda Regiment were ex-servicemen, with just two known war veterans. Mr. Burchall said the claim that the association had used "restrictive criteria" to determine who to assist was "erroneous, which makes it unfair".

"If it doles out money to Private Smith of the Bermuda Regiment who has never seen active service, it is misusing funds," he said.

Patrick Leavey, head of public affairs at the Royal British Legion, said yesterday that the charity learned about the alleged "restrictive criteria" after examining BWVA's charter.

"We believe that the aims and objectives of the War Veterans' Association are not compatible with those of the Royal British Legion," he said. "As a result, it would not be appropriate for the (B) WVA to be involved in the poppy appeal, which is our annual fundraising appeal. The WVA should not be involved in the Royal British Legion's poppy appeal and should not use our poppies for WVA fundraising activity."

Mr. Burchall claimed Carol Everson, a caseworker for the legion based on the Island, who claimed on Wednesday that the veterans' association only helped its own members, was "vicariously and, I might add, improperly, placing a brand new duty on the BWVA, whose remit is to care for veterans".

He added that her claim that many Bermudians had no choice where they served was false. "From the 1895 inception of Bermuda's indigenous armed forces, down to 17:00 hours on Thursday, October 4, 2007, every Bermudian has served under a Bermuda law that states absolutely that no Bermudian soldier can be sent overseas for military operations," he said. "This means that every Bermudian soldier has a choice."

He said Bermudian men had exercised this choice in the first and second world wars but not since. Mr. Burchall said BWVA, founded in 1919, had been buying poppies from the RBL to sell since 1922 and had never agreed to repatriate any funds raised to the legion

"The transaction was a purely commercial transaction and the commodity purchased, the poppy, was used in Bermuda, by Bermudians, to help Bermudian war veterans."

Asked for his opinion about the BWVA row yesterday, Public Safety Minister David Burch, a former Regiment Commanding Officer, said: "It seems a little strange to me that for 62 years they have been doing it one way and it appears they have got it wrong. It's very much for the British to sort out among themselves, thankfully."