NEARLY 1,500 British service personnel on duty in Iraq have had to be flown home for treatment in British hospitals since the war began in March 2003, according to new figures released to The Times.

The total number of soldiers, regular and reserves, officially registered as “wounded in action” is now 189 — compared with 64 killed by enemy action.

However, the casualty toll from service in Iraq rises steeply when taking into account personnel suffering from disease and non-battle injuries caused by road traffic accidents, military training and other incidents.

The overall figure, battle and non-battle casualties, now stands at 5,833, of whom 1,468 had to be brought back to Britain for hospital treatment, according to the latest casualty toll released by the Ministry of Defence under the Freedom of Information Act.

Despite the intense public focus on the war in Iraq, especially with the number of British troops killed approaching 100 (currently 97, including suicides, traffic accidents and natural causes), the MoD has no single database which itemises all British Armed Forces non-fatal casualty statistics since the start of Operation Telic, codename for the campaign.

The Defence Medical Services department said: “Casualty statistics from Operation Telic are collated for operational purposes only and, while every effort is made to ensure their accuracy, the first priority of medical personnel is the treatment of patients rather than the collection of statistics.”

In January, the MoD told The Times that 790 British military personnel had been wounded in action or had been injured in traffic, sporting or training accidents since the war began. The MoD also said that a total of 2,762 personnel had been returned to Britain for medical reasons, but claimed that many of them were just minor cases of twisted ankles and bad backs.

The ministry was unable to provide a breakdown of the 790 more serious injuries: what percentage was from battle wounds as opposed to disease or other non-battle incidents.

After a Freedom of Information request by The Times for a detailed breakdown of all injuries, the MoD finally produced a formula which gives a fuller picture of the casualty history of Operation Telic.

The Defence Medical Services department said that since Operation Telic began, statistics had been recorded on patients admitted to the British military field hospital at Shaibah, south of Basra in southern Iraq. This a “role 3” hospital, defined as being located in the theatre of operations and capable of carrying out “emergency care, surgery, medical and nursing care, limited rehabilitation and intensive care”.

The most up-to-date information is that between March 24, 2003, and July 16 this year, the total number of military personnel admitted to Shaibah hospital and classified as wounded in action was 189, of whom 109 had to be aeromedically evacuated to Britain.

During the same period, the total number reported by the hospital as having been admitted with disease and non-battle injuries was 5,644, of whom 1,359 were flown home.

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