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Armed Forces: Severely Wounded Personnel

My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to raise the future of our severely wounded servicemen. It is a sad coincidence that this debate is taking place during the Committee stage of the Coroners and Justice Bill when inquests for service personnel are the subject under consideration. The whole House is united in its praise for our Armed Forces, especially the teeth arms, the fighting troops who over the past 10 years and more have been deployed continuously on operations of a particularly ferocious nature. Our fighting troops have exceeded all our expectations and they are an example to the entire country of unselfishness, modesty and courage in an age when these qualities are extremely hard to find. Morale is high in the fighting forces. I hope that they all realise that they are held in the highest affection and respect by the public of this country. Such relentless war fighting brings a terrible toll, not only in deaths, but also severe injuries. Due to the miracles of modern medicine many men are alive today who, even 10 or 20 years ago, would have died from their wounds. Some of these wounds are very severe indeed. There are many men in fighting formations, returning from operations having lost two or three limbs and taken other horrendous injuries. As I have said, morale and esprit de corps is high. It is high because there is essentially immense loyalty and comradeship within the fighting regiments or corps of our Armed Forces. In the majority of cases, severely wounded men want to be with their own comrades. Furthermore, their own comrades want them back. It would be a mistake for anyone to underestimate the fact that this is very much a two-way process. Those severely wounded men need their comrades and their comrades most certainly need them. I should put on record the gratitude and admiration we all have for the wonderful medial staff who attend to our Armed Forces, both in the theatre of operations and back here in the United Kingdom at places like Selly Oak and Headley Court. These medical teams are an integral part of the family of the Armed Forces. They are hugely trusted and admired within the Armed Forces, as are the physiotherapists and others who help our fighting troops cope with the trauma of warfare. On this matter, I hope that the Minister will be able to tell the House what is being provided for our severely wounded personnel in terms of retraining and re-skilling. There are no golden rules in dealing with the trauma of war. Each individual has his own way of endeavouring to cope. The traditional British way is to treat adversity with humour and self-deprecation, putting so far as possible the tragedies and atrocities of war out of one’s mind. I understand that the Armed Forces are rightly treating severely wounded personnel sensitively and with understanding. These people have much to offer. They can work in administrative and clerical roles. Furthermore, there are many tasks within a unit that they can perform. Their numbers, understandably, should not count towards the fighting strength of the unit because they cannot be deployed on operations. Nevertheless, there are many roles that they can fulfil back at a unit’s headquarters. I understand from my own inquiries that the first three or four years following a severe injury are crucial in coping with the physical and psychological change necessitated by severe injury, getting used to artificial limbs and disabilities. Some severely injured troops may wish to leave the service early, but the vast majority wish to stay, certainly for some years. A good many severely wounded troops find that, after two or three years, when their comrades have moved on to different units, been promoted or taken a different specialisation, they themselves feel that it is time for change and often wish to opt to leave the service. The point is that there are no hard and fast rules. Each individual’s needs must be met. The television, national press and local and regional press throughout the country are greatly supportive of our Armed Forces. Our local papers and regional newspaper in the south-west, the Western Morning News, all do an excellent job, providing the public with news and comment, both locally and from the frontline. I was delighted to see in the library a copy of the Courier and Advertiser of 29 May, a Dundee edition—I believe that this is the local paper of the noble Lord, Lord Lyell—providing an extensive coverage of the 45 Commando Royal Marines medal ceremony. It was instructive to see on the front page of that paper a photograph of a wounded man forming up with his unit to receive his campaign medal with his comrades. I would like to pay tribute to our national papers as well, particularly the so-called popular press for doing much to highlight the positive contributions that severely injured servicemen make. My attention was drawn to an article on page 13 of the Sun on 1 June this year. Prince Harry was in New York and with him, as his co-ambassador, was marine Joe Townsend, who had lost both of his legs. Many service charities, including the exemplary Help for Heroes, have every reason to be grateful to our wounded servicemen for their selfless dedication in fundraising and the other efforts that they make. Great British corps and regiments are like large extended families. When you join one of our elite corps or regiments, you are in it for life. In my own corps, there is an expression that is as true today as it ever was: ""Once a marine, always a marine"." We have our own magazine, the Globe and Laurel, a wonderful magazine, referred to in the services as the "Globe and Buster". We have a vast network of Royal Marine associations throughout the country and overseas. These also form part of the support network. The irony is that often the very severely injured and wounded are doing a great deal themselves to support others. It is exemplary to see what they do and what they are capable of doing. As I have said earlier, it is two-way traffic. These men are needed in the service. My understanding is that the additional funding required in respect of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have come out of central government funds and not Ministry of Defence funding. The funding for this vital work to which I have referred should also come from central Government and not be taken out of the Ministry of Defence budget. We owe all our Armed Forces a debt of honour. We owe those severely wounded and injured a debt of honour that we can never repay. We must, however, spare no effort or cost in supporting them.