Gulf War veterans urge others to seek support

Veterans of the first Gulf War have urged their former comrades to seek help for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) amid concerns that soldiers are still struggling to cope with the horrors of the conflict, 30 years on.

Staff with military charity Help for Heroes said they have seen a rise in workload since the coronavirus pandemic due to ex-servicemen and women being “cooped up” at home and reflecting on their time in the armed forces.

The Gulf War ended on February 28 1991, following the conclusion of Operation Desert Storm, when Allied forces pushed Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi troops into a retreat from Kuwait which they had invaded the previous August.

Some 47 British personnel were among the fatalities, although the effects of the seven-month war were felt by many of those who served.

Veterans said they battled with depression, divorce, harrowing flashbacks and suicide attempts following the Gulf War, but said they refused to seek help because it was not the “manly thing to do” at the time.

Graham Hudspith, 53, a petty officer now living in Coventry, said: “Nobody ever spoke about it, people didn’t even talk about the Falklands.

“I know people who (ended their lives), two weeks ago. It is still happening today.

“Some of them can’t get the thoughts, the pictures of what they saw, out of their heads.”

Fellow ex-serviceman Kevin Muldoon jumped from the Erskine Bridge over the River Clyde six years after returning from serving with the Royal Corps of Transport in the Gulf, but was caught by a suicide prevention device.

Reflecting on that time in his life, which involved flashbacks and nightmares as part of his PTSD, the 64-year-old, from Glasgow, said: “Quite a few people I know have taken their own life.

“You relive it, you’re actually there, you smell it, you can feel it, you can touch it, you can taste it, and that came back again. It cost me my marriage.”

Veteran Kevin Gray also recalled having nightmares about the conflict shortly after returning from the Gulf with the Royal Artillery.

The 50-year-old, from Lancashire, said: “The time while I was out there doing the job I didn’t feel it actually affected me, but it later did.

“I started having severe nightmares. There were burning hands sticking out in the sand – those were the type of nightmares.”

Retired Lieutenant Colonel Duane Fletcher, now a Help for Heroes clinician, said many former service personnel are continuing to “bottle up” their grief.

The 56-year-old, from North Yorkshire, said: “Thirty years ago there was a stigma that people were being weak if they had mental health problems.

“It’s now more open in society and people appreciate you can have mental health issues from a variety of things.”

But he said the last 12 months have seen an increase in veterans coming forward and seeking help.

Mr Muldoon, who was treated by Mr Fletcher in a British field hospital during the Gulf War, drew on his own experience of ignoring his problems before turning his life around by getting in touch with Help for Heroes two years ago.

“I never bothered with help, people were phoning me, I was drunk, not interested,” he said.

“But one phone call to Help for Heroes and the floodgates opened. It’s been a revelation.”

For more information visit helpforheroes.org.uk

BATTLE SCARS: Thirty years on from the end of the conflict, the after-effects of the first Gulf War are still felt by many of those who served.

Mr Muldoon, now aged 64.

Kevin Muldoon in the Gulf.