As troops bring Gulf War II to a close, a Hampshire veteran of the last Gulf War fears lessons may not have been learnt.

Charles Plumridge, of Nightingale Close in Romsey, is a senior coordinator with the National Gulf Veterans and Families Association set up to help soldiers suffering from various illnesses after the 1991 conflict.

The charity is now offering to help those involved in the current war. Mr Plumridge said: "We have fought for veterans' pensions and welfare rights as well as helping them find cures for many of the illnesses they have suffered."

The 62-year-old is among thousands of servicemen involved in the last Gulf war who claim to be suffering from Gulf war syndrome, a condition the Ministry of Defence refuses to recognise. Many veterans blame a cocktail of vaccines they were given as well as Naps tablets and organic phosphates sprayed on tents for making them ill. He fears lessons may not have not been learnt, particularly as his nephew, a corporal in the REME, is serving in Kuwait and another nephew currently in Bosnia may yet be sent out there.

"Defence minister Geoff Hoon categorically stated in the House of Commons that it would be wrong to ask troops to undergo simultaneous vaccinations and that lessons had been learnt.

"But we know for a fact that reservists and troops have had mass vaccinations. If they were administered according to World Health Organisation regulations it would take seven months to vaccinate them before going into the field of operations but they were out there in three weeks."

Mr Plumridge left the army in 1981 after 23 years but was called up as a reservist at the age of 50. He served in the Royal Medical Corps. Among the patients treated in 32 Field Hospital were Iraqi prisoners of war.

"I was the NCO in charge of reception at the theatre and decided which operating table they went to, documented them and strip searched them ready for operation."

His health deteriorated dramatically after his return, forcing him to retire. He developed chest infections and began to suffer from osteo-arthritis as well as memory loss, irritability, sleep and bowel problems. A total of 24 British soldiers died serving in the last Gulf war, but about 571 veterans have died since their return.

"They were not killed by the enemy but by our own government exposing them to toxins," said Mr Plumridge.

The MoD says there is no such thing as Gulf war syndrome. Instead it recognises 'signs and symptoms of ill-defined conditions' for which veterans can claim disability pensions.

The ministry is going to the high court on Monday (April 14th) to challenge a ruling by the war pensions tribunal that Shaun Rusling, a former sergeant in the parachute regiment, suffers from the sydrome.

"For years the ministry has argued there is no such thing as gulf war syndrome and this test case in the court of appeal will determine whether the term is legal," said Mr Plumridge.

* The National Gulf Veterans and Families Association can be contacted on 01482 833812