Various political attempts to institute a national British day have failed, perhaps because Britain already has one. It is Armistice Day, and it is marked not by the waving of flags, or by the recitation of a national creed, but by keeping a silence in memory of those who sacrificed their lives for our country. Armistice Day, however, has always been about the living as well as the fallen. The poppies we wear are not just a commemoration of Flanders, but a sign that we support our soldiers in the battlefield today.
Since the Taleban were toppled from Kabul nine years ago, 180,000 servicemen and women have fought campaigns in either Iraq or Afghanistan. The fighting in Helmand has been more vicious than the military ever anticipated — the heaviest and most sustained that the British have endured since the Korean war. This has a human price, not simply the 521 soldiers who have died, or the 4,400 who have been hospitalised, or the 172 amputees. Many of those who remain able-bodied and return find the adjustment to civilian life a very different battle.
The trauma of modern warfare is well understood by Americans, who saw its effects in the aftermath of Vietnam, but Britain is only now coming to terms with the implications of sending so many troops into such heavy fighting. We have a tendency to focus on the casualty rate: each session of Prime Minister’s Questions starts with a tribute to the fallen. This irritates the army for two reasons: it is a reminder of the failures of the war, sounding a slow drumbeat of defeat, and it undermines the resolve needed for the counterinsurgency. Worse, it focuses political attention on the dead. This is at a time when so much could, and should, be done for the living.
The number of troops who fell liberating the Falklands, 255, is now exceeded by the number of veterans from that conflict who took their own lives years after returning home. Many of these deaths could have been prevented if the veterans had been given the right support — but then, the British authorities were still only dimly aware of the psychological effects of warfare. Post-traumatic stress disorder was seen as mainly an American problem. The extent to which British soldiers were affected became apparent too late.
The Ministry of Defence has only recently begun to recognise the need to keep tabs on ex-servicemen. The Defence Secretary Liam Fox, a medical doctor, came to the department stressing the importance of mental health — and the need to provide for the young veterans who are inevitably at risk. A University of Manchester study last year found that the suicide rate of soldiers under 24 is three times as high as it is for civilians. A study by the Centre for Military Health at King’s College London revealed last year that 4.8 per cent of British ex-servicemen are suffering from post-traumatic stress, suggesting a caseload running into the thousands.
The problems do not end there. The same study also found that 27 per cent of returning servicemen suffer from other common mental disorders, most commonly alcohol addiction and neurotic conditions. This squares with other research. The University of York estimates that there are 3,600 homeless ex-servicemen in London. The National Association of Probation Officers claims that one in ten prisoners served in the Armed Forces at some point.
David Cameron is not foolish enough to imagine that the era of austerity means he can skimp on care for those who have already risked their life for their country. If the government can afford to give away an extra £2.7 billion in overseas aid, it can afford to provide the world-class medical care and psychological help that our ex-servicemen deserve. There is a strong public mandate for such support to be given. The crowds who turn out in Wootton Bassett to honour those who have given their lives, and many other towns to mark the return of fallen soldiers, have demonstrated the depth of support among the British public for those who serve in the military.
Defence cuts will mean that the army shrinks to its smallest level in two centuries. But in spite of the controversy over the deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is clear that the bond between the public and the military is as strong now as at any time in modern history. And it’s clear that the government must do its utmost for discharged troops, rather than leaving them to fight their way on to an NHS waiting list. Our duty of care to those who fought in the conflicts is only just beginning.
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