UK: Hundreds of Troops Kicked Out With PTSD

Hundreds of soldiers kicked out of the Army because they were suffering from PTSD and depression
The Mirror
Sean Rayment
December 23, 2017

In the reply, Mr Ellwood admitted almost one in five of all troops medically discharged from the Army in the 12 months to April had mental illness.

Trevor Coult ended up homeless and attempted suicide after he was discharged following his PTSD diagnosis (Image: PA)

There were 499 soldiers with mental health problems kicked out of the Army last year, a ­defence chief has admitted.

Troops suffering illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety were told they were no longer fit to serve.

Many who were medically ­discharged say that losing their jobs and often homes made their illness worse, driving some to the brink of ­suicide. The disclosure was made in a letter from defence minister Tobias Ellwood to decorated hero Trevor Coult, a staff sergeant shown the door after developing PTSD.

Trevor won the Military Cross after killing three would-be suicide bombers in Iraq. He wrote to the MoD urging better treatment for PTSD sufferers.

He said: “I was sent home on sick leave and no one contacted me for 11 months. Then I got a ­letter saying my employment was being terminated and I had 28 days to vacate my MoD ­property or I’d be evicted and my family moved to sheltered ­accommodation. I was devastated. My salary of £36,000 had gone and I was homeless. I became depressed quickly and attempted ­suicide. The money I received from the MoD lasted just a couple of months.

“We now know hundreds of ­soldiers with PTSD are being forced out every year and the Government washes its hands of them. They need help and support.”
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Military Cross Afghanistan Veteran Says PTSD Veterans Left to Struggle

Suffolk Military Cross winner’s anger at MoD over treatment of PTSD war veterans
UK East Anglian
Colin Adwent
April 2016

Combat no longer involves the Iraq and Afghanistan veteran putting himself in mortal danger.

It now reflects the 41-year-old’s daily struggle with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The ex-Royal Irish Regiment Colour Sergeant, who lives in the Woodbridge area with his wife and five-year-old son, served his country for almost 20 years. He was awarded the Military Cross for risking his own life to protect comrades in Iraq.

But he feels he, and many others like him, are being treated shamefully by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Mr Coult is scathing in his condemnation over the help those with PTSD receive.

Mentally fragile, they return to civilian life haunted by flashbacks, frayed nerves and financial pressures.

For a few it is too much and they take their own lives. Others end up homeless or in prison. Relationships break down. Drugs or alcohol become a source of self-medicating comfort.

Mr Coult believes the MoD casts off many veterans too cheaply by giving them a few thousand pounds as an interim payment, with a proviso their cases will be reviewed in two years.
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UK:Military Cross for "Bomb Magnet" blown up 15 times

Soldier bombed 15 TIMES describes risking his life to save others as 'occupational hazard'
UK Mirror
By Chris Hughes
Jul 11, 2014

Hero: Warrant Officer Class 1 Patrick Hyde

A British soldier blown up more than 15 times described risking his life to save others as “an occupational hazard” as he received his Military Cross.

Warrant Officer Class 1 Patrick Hyde – nicknamed The Bomb Magnet – said modestly: “I’m just fortunate enough that I’ve survived.”

Patrick, 38, was given his MC by Prince Charles in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Afterwards, the senior soldier – who is Regimental Sergeant Major of the 4th Battalion The Rifles – gave an insight into some of the horrific incidents he had been involved in.

He said: “There’s no lucky charms. When you operate in Sangin, as I have done, it becomes a bit of an occupational hazard up there.

"We’re trained to do what we do and it becomes second nature.

"You work together as a team and regardless of the threat there’s a job to be done at the end of it.”

Patrick, from Cheltenham, was awarded the medal in July last year for his part in an action in Taliban-infested Sangin, where more than 100 Brits have been killed.
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Military Cross for the 'bomb magnet' UK soldier blown up 17 times

Military Cross for the 'bomb magnet' soldier blown up 17 times
A soldier who has been involved in 17 bomb attacks by insurgents has been awarded the Military Cross for helping co-ordinate the response to the most recent one - even as he lay wounded
Telegraph UK
By Jasper Copping
6:30AM GMT 23 Mar 2014

He is either the unluckiest man in the Army, or the luckiest. Warrant Officer Class 1 Patrick Hyde has been blown up 17 times by insurgents − but has escaped serious injury on each occasion.

The soldier, who has been nicknamed “bomb magnet”, has been awarded the Military Cross for his actions after the latest attack, when he helped to coordinate the evacuation of injured soldiers, as well as a senior Afghan general and his men, as he lay wounded on the ground.
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UK Army medic becomes only third woman to be awarded Military Cross

Army medic becomes only third woman to be awarded Military Cross
By IAN DRURY
10th November 2010


Bullets whizzing through the air around her, Army medic Sarah Bushbye sprang into action to treat four soldiers severely hurt in a suicide bomb attack.

She ignored the grave risk of more bombs and heavy gunfire to dash more than 100 yards across open ground to reach the men.

Tragically, the two British and two Afghan servicemen wounded when a Taliban bomber detonated his device at the vehicle checkpoint in Sangin, Helmand province, lost their fights for life despite her desperate efforts.


The citation with the combat medical technician’s medal said she worked to help the casualties with ‘flagrant disregard for her own safety’.

Corporal Bushbye – she has been promoted since her exploits in December – received the medal from the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

She said: ‘It was like a horror movie. But it’s all about your training. If you get good training you can g


Read more: Army medic Sarah Bushbye

UK soldier defused bomb with broken hand

Medal for soldier who defused bombs with broken hand
Trapped in a minefield, under heavy attack from the Taleban and with daylight running out, Staff Sergeant Gareth Wood knew he had to work fast.

By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent
Published: 1:10AM BST 03 Oct 2010

But as the bomb disposal expert removed one of five explosive devices that stood between a stranded British patrol and safety, he felt an excuciating pain.

SSgt Wood had broken two fingers in his right hand - the one he used to seacrh for the Improvised explosive Device, making it almost impossible to continue.


His fellow soldiers urged him to return to base for treatment but SSgt Wood persisted, defusing the bomb and neutralising a further three IEDs even though his right arm in a sling.

SSgt Wood's bravery has now been recognised with the Military Cross and the admiration of his fellow bomb disposal experts.

The head of Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal has described his actions as "truly humbling" and in the "highest traditions of the Army".

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Medal for soldier who defused bombs

Groundhog Day for Danny Claricoates with PTSD

Groundhog Day for Danny Claricoates, the warrior with invisible wounds
Tom Coghlan

As Danny Claricoates was walking past some roadworks last week, a workman switched on a tarmac-flattening machine. He froze. Sweat began to pour off him and his heart started to race with shock.

He could hear the unmistakable sound of an incoming Chinook helicopter. He was back in Afghanistan on November 12 last year as the vehicle in front of him blew apart, then weeping as he carried the bodies of two close friends to a waiting helicopter.

Danny is trapped in a dystopian version of Groundhog Day. Particular sounds trigger the same flashback, and though the experience is always the same, it never loses any of its horror.

It is deeply debilitating. He is perpetually on edge and unable to shake off deep feelings of guilt.


What makes Danny unusual, however, is that not only is he willing to talk openly about the still-taboo subject of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), of which he now has a diagnosis, but that he is also a winner of one of Britain’s highest awards for gallantry: the Military Cross.

In 2007, aged 27, he spent seven months in Helmand. All but five weeks of that time was spent on the front line. He was awarded the MC for his exceptional courage under fire on three occasions.

When Danny returned from Afghanistan he was, his mother said, a different person. He was troubled, above all, by a sense of guilt. There had been a moment when a Marine was hit beside him and Danny didn’t stop to help him. The man was only shot in the wrist but Danny always blamed himself.
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Groundhog Day for Danny Claricoates

Haunting pictures of the children of hero

These are pictures we all need to see to remind us that while they may be "ours" while they are deployed, they are forever the family member they love and miss.

Respect: Comrades of Sgt Lockett carry his coffin, complete with regimental cap, belt and his medals, from the church after the service

Bye bye, Daddy: Haunting pictures of the children of hero Military Cross soldier killed in Afghanistan as he is laid to rest
By Jim Mcbeth
Last updated at 7:50 AM on 16th October 2009
Everyone around them was saying how courageous their father had been.
So Chloe and Connor Lockett did their best to be brave too.

As his coffin passed by them yesterday, borne on the shoulders of his grieving comrades, they scrubbed the tears away with crumpled tissues.


Read more: Haunting pictures of the children of hero Military Cross

Afghanistan war hero and Military Cross soldier was tortured by guilt

Brave: Sergeant Michael Lockett receives the Military Cross from the Queen at Buckingham Palace, for services in Afghanistan



Afghanistan war hero and Military Cross soldier was tortured by guilt
By Michael Seamark
Last updated at 8:52 AM on 24th September 2009

His unflinching bravery in saving wounded comrades under fire earned him the Military Cross but, astonishingly, Sergeant Michael Lockett was later racked with guilt.

The 29-year-old hero - who repeatedly risked his life for others - was killed this week by a roadside bomb during a return tour to Afghanistan.

But before his final mission the father of three gave a series of haunting interviews in which he spoke of his despair at having to leave one dead colleague behind.

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Afghanistan war hero and Military Cross soldier was tortured by guilt

Agony and courage of hero in mourning
The Military Cross hero killed by the Taliban after returning to front line