VC hero puts spotlight on stresses of war

Troops take 14 years on average to seek help. Photo / AP

LONDON - Fellow soldiers decorated for their service in the Iraq war have thrown their weight behind calls by Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry VC for more help for troops suffering from mental trauma.

Their intervention came as it was reported this week that young veterans of conflicts are three times more likely than civilians to kill themselves.

In a demonstration of the courage that earned him the Victoria Cross, the country's highest honour for bravery, Beharry used an interview in the weekend edition of The Independent to talk about the mental anguish he still suffers five years after saving 30 comrades in acts of "repeated extreme gallantry".

He accused the Government of failing service personnel who suffer from combat stress.

In a show of military solidarity, countless soldiers have praised the 29-year-old for raising the issue.

Colonel Tim Collins, whose rousing eve-of-war speech made him a household name, said Britain should offer far more support for former soldiers.

Major Justin Featherstone, a fellow member of the 1st Battalion, the Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment, who fought alongside Beharry in Iraq and was awarded the Military Cross, said: "Anyone prepared to stand up and say 'I have a problem' is showing considerably more bravery than anything they may have done in close combat. In the military, we acknowledge that a mentally wounded soldier is no different from someone who has been shot or lost a leg. But there is still a public stigma and to at least try and illustrate the potential problems is laudable."

Collins added that while the work of charities such as Combat Stress should be praised, they were filling a gap that should be plugged by the Government. "There is a broader issue of what we need to be doing, not only for those with mental illness and combat stress but also for those disabled as a result of injuries," said the former commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, the Royal Irish.

He said Britain should be following the American example of offering far more support to those who had served their country, such as free education for veterans adjusting to civilian life.

Yesterday it was reported that suicide rates among Army, Royal Navy and RAF personnel have risen dramatically in recent years.

In a Manchester University study, experts from its Suicide Prevention Centre found three times the number of troops between 20 and 24 kill themselves compared with civilians of the same age, and 19-year-olds were twice as likely to take their own lives.

The study, which analysed suicides between 1996 and 2005, makes shocking reading for a military largely made up of younger troops.

And experts from Combat Stress have said they have seen a 53 per cent increase in veterans with mental health problems in the past three years and, with most not presenting themselves for treatment for an average of 14 years, the country faces a major problem in the future after Afghanistan and Iraq.

Veterans are offered treatment for mental health problems on the NHS but Collins and Featherstone echoed the general military view that civilian medics would struggle to relate to the problems of a traumatised soldier, who would also feel uncomfortable talking to them.

"Clearly the treatment has to be bespoke. You need to put soldiers with people who have been through it, understand it," said Featherstone, calling on the Government to fund more research into the causes of combat stress and potential treatments.

The day after Beharry spoke out, the head of the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, commended his bravery in coming forward, adding: "Policy is that servicemen have a priority within the NHS and I hope NHS managers remind themselves of that."

Liberal Democrats' defence spokesman Nick Harvey said the Government was waking up to the problem but "too late. What is needed is specialist mental health provision from people with an insight into the military experience."

Shadow Defence minister Gerald Howarth said: "It is right and proper that Lance Corporal Beharry spoke out. I don't think anyone has grasped yet how the wave of combat stress cases is going to build up."

TROOPS AT RISK

Studies have shown:
* Troops aged between 20 and 24 are three times more likely to kill themselves than civilians of the same age.
* Troops aged 19 are twice as likely to take their own lives.
* There has been a 53 per cent increase in reported cases of veterans with mental health problems in the past three years.

- INDEPENDENT