AN EX-SOLDIER from Newport "deserves huge credit" for speaking out about the struggles he and other former armed forces personnel face, a city MP has said.

Anthony Lock joined the army at 17, and served with the Royal Welsh Regiment in Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. But it was while in Afghanistan in 2009 than he was blown up by Improvised Explosive Devices twice in the space of six weeks.

Left with brain damage and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Mr Lock wrote a book Broken by War, on his experiences struggling to get support and find work after leaving the army.

READ MORE:

And, speaking in Parliament this week, Newport East MP Jessica Morden said it was important the former corporal and others like him get all the support they need to recover from the physical and mental scars left by their military service.

Saying Mr Lock, a former Dyffryn High School pupil, "deserves huge credit" for speaking out about his struggles, the Labour MP said: "Military history, like national history, is so often written about the officer class - those who make the major decisions. But it is important that we understand, too, what happens in defence and war to the ordinary soldier.

"History is also, importantly, about everyone who serves, their day-to-day experience and their life afterwards, including the trauma that they face as a result of the service that they gave to their country."

South Wales Argus:

(Jessica Morden MP (l) and Anthony Lock)

She added: "I asked Anthony what his main ask would be for improving the support available to veterans in our society.

"He told me that we need much quicker signposting of mental health support services within the forces community, a better system for handling the slow process of compensation and pension claims for those unable to work, help into work and recognition of the skills and experience of veterans, and, above all, a commitment from government at all levels to end the stigma around mental health in the armed forces.

"In his own words, Anthony says 'the forces community are too proud, too shy and too scared to reach out for help'. He says that many veterans still feel the government send young soldiers to war only to 'leave us to fight on our own when we return'.

"Anthony has served in some of the major conflicts since the Second World War, but he is not a celebrity.

"So many veterans like Anthony are unknown individuals in society who could have become unknown soldiers lost on the battlefield, but their history and service are just as vital to the UK as that of any general, air marshal or captain.

"We have to listen to people like Anthony and we have to be told their stories."

Broken by War is available from amazon.co.uk and Newport Library.