Boy soldier sent to Afghan front
January 27, 2012
Posted by:Philippa Tuckman
The Ministry of Defence has admitted that errors led to Adam Wilkie, then aged 17, being sent to Lashkar Gah for six weeks. There, he fought the Taliban in several fire fights, and, fortunately, emerged unscathed and very proud of himself. He was praised by friends and colleagues, because he did very well indeed.
All of which is heroic and admirable, and thank goodness all ended well for that tour, but what does it say about the MoD’s care of its soldiers? I often see men who have trained hard as boy soldiers and are sent out just after the 18th birthday, are blown up and traumatised and then returned to Afghanistan as soon as they look like they can take it again. I am not convinced that my military compensation claims clients have been cared for by the MoD as their mothers were promised they would be when they joined. Now we know all that matters is having a willing soldier to hand, that they can’t even check the age or know him well enough to suspect there’s something wrong, I’m afraid I feel confirmed in my doubts.