**Nearly 3,000 British soldiers have been evacuated from Iraq to Britain for medical reasons since the beginning of hostilities there last year, The Observer can reveal.
The news will raise concern that the true cost of the British involvement in the war is being hidden.** British forces have so far suffered 74 fatalities, details of which are released by the Ministry of Defence. But, in contrast with the Americans, the number of British soldiers wounded on the battlefield is not made public. Modern medical techniques and the widespread use of body armour mean around six men are wounded for every one killed.
The total of troops ‘medically evacuated’ from the Gulf - 2,754 since 1 March last year - includes soldiers with serious injuries and severe psychological disorders. The latest figures from the MoD show that 461 soldiers deployed in Iraq have been treated for mental health problems, 50 of whom were diagnosed as suffering from serious post-traumatic stress disorders.
Serving soldiers cannot talk to the press, but one seriously injured
infantryman’s father told The Observer that men such as his son, who had had much of one leg shot away, risked being ‘forgotten’.
‘No one is talking about those who have been disabled for life. War cripples healthy young men and we should remember that,’ he said.
Trooper Andy Julien of the Queen’s Royal Lancers was left with appalling injuries when his tank was hit by friendly fire in Basra last year. Both his legs were crushed and brain injuries left him blind. After a string of operations, Julien, 19, has regained some of his sight but still cannot walk properly.
‘I could cry when I look at the photographs taken at his passing out parade. The son that my husband and I had then is not the son we have now,’ Julien’s mother said.
‘We are seeing the tip of the iceberg,’ said Toby Elliott, chief executive of Combat Stress, which has registered more than 500 new cases of post-traumatic stress disorder in the last year. ‘Some people suffer for decades without seeking help.’
Some casualties are taking legal action. One soldier who suffered serious injuries when a US tank transporter rammed her vehicle in Iraq is suing the American military. The £1.2 million claim made by Corporal Jane McLauchlan, 33 - along with two other soldiers from the Royal Military Police and an interpreter - is believed to be the first brought by coalition troops against the US Army since the invasion of Iraq.
A spokesman for the MoD said: ‘At the moment it is not meaningful to issue statistics for wounded because of the difficulty of classifying an injury.’
Nearly 3,000 British soldiers have been evacuated from Iraq to Britain
Yes so much for flowers and love from the Iraqis for the British in the South of Iraq, reality is something the British Government would like to hide from its public!