My name is Stephen Valentine and I was born in November 1969. At the age of 18 I decided to enlist in the British Army as a driver in the Royal Corps of Transport (RCT). I completed my basic training in February 1988 and was then posted to 8 Squadron, 27 Regiment RCT, at Buller Barracks in Aldershot.
In November 1990, 27 Regt was given formal notice of its deployment to Saudi Arabia in anticipation of taking part in operations during the first Gulf war. The regiment finally deployed on active service in January 1991. Only days after arriving, our holding location came under attack from SCUD missiles and shortly thereafter we relocated to our new home in the desert. Our tour of duty in the Gulf lasted approximately 4 months and covered the ground offensive in February of that year and the eventual liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi forces.
A few short weeks after returning home for rest and recuperation we resumed our normal duties in Aldershot. For a long period after the end of the war many personnel suffered major problems due to their experiences and, as a result, were summarily discharged from the forces. I stayed with the Army until February 1992, at which point I decided to purchase my own discharge.
With no immediate help at hand after discharge, I moved with my family to Manchester, staying with my mother. Things didn’t go well for me – all the signs were there to see, but somehow I missed them. Eventually, after a very self-destructive period, I was diagnosed with depression and placed on a cocktail of anti-depressants, which did little to relieve my symptoms, nor improve my situation. My problems persisted over the next few years and through contact with army friends with whom I had served, I came to realise that I wasn’t the only one to be suffering in this way.
The team from Combat Stress visited me on a number of occasions and finally offered me a place at their Audley Court treatment centre in Newport. This proved to be a turning point in my life. I was given the opportunity to meet a wide variety of ex-service personnel who had served during every conflict since the 2nd World War. At the time I was under the misapprehension that I was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), having being diagnosed as such by a specialist sent by the War Pensions Agency. Very quickly I understood by talking to those around me that, while I had a depressive illness, it wasn’t PTSD. And, more importantly, I recognised that I still needed help.
During my stay at the centre I met many people, including a WWII veteran who was one of Sir Archibald McIndoe’s skin graft patients (also proudly know as Guinea pigs). He had been attending the centre almost from the day it was opened and returns each year for rehab and respite care. Another resident I met served in the Falklands War. He had found it almost impossible to adjust to civilian life, couldn’t hold down a job and had become a virtual recluse, preferring to stay in his home. I discovered that he had very few of the necessities of life in his flat to make his life more bearable. This touched me in such a way that I determined to make the lives of such people better in any way I could.
The result was the Army Of Angels charity, which was set up to assist former, and in some cases serving, members of the forces, with the basic necessities of life after, or in preparation for, their discharge. We want to provide items to help improve their situation, whatever it might be. We are also able to help the families of injured service personnel by paying for holiday breaks and to assist the families of those personnel who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. The Army of Angels is committed to providing whatever help it can, and its ability to assist is only constrained by the funds available to help it meet the needs of injured forces personnel and their families.
We also support the work of the veterans’ mental health charity ‘Combat Stress’ and the ‘Not Forgotten Association’. We can make a meaningful contribution to the work of both these organisations by supplying much-needed items such as new beds, furniture, TV’s etc and by updating many existing items. Both of these organisations have their own websites and you might feel, if you are able to, that they should also receive a separate donation.
Please help us to help them.
Stephen Valentine
