Recurring visions of a daytime sky darkened by plumes of black smoke from burning oilfields are not typical among surfers. Neither are memories of a priest blessing a tank, nor those of shrapnel falling from the sky. Still less, perhaps, the visceral smell of diesel fuel each morning — even if it’s a sun-kissed coastal one.

But these are among the symptoms experienced by Rich Emerson, a surfer based in west Cornwall who, since leaving the Army in 1993, has been fighting a battle against post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Aged 22, Emerson joined The Queen’s Royal Hussars. He loved the life and excelled at various sports.

But serving in Operation Desert Storm changed his life for ever. Two marriages have foundered as he has grappled with the classic symptoms of PTSD: self-destructive impulses, suicidal thoughts, guilt and depression. Put simply, he struggles to get the bad stuff out of his head — and sometimes it obliterates everything else.

Riding waves, though, helped Emerson to rebuild his life. He started surfing 13 years ago, when he witnessed the sport for the first time at Porthmeor beach, St Ives: “I was with a mate, and I just looked at the surfers out there and said to him: ‘That’s what I want to do.’” Emerson promptly bought a board and wetsuit and threw himself into surfing, for, as he puts it: “Surfing is about being in the moment. You can’t think about anything else other than being in the sea, waiting for waves, riding them. The salt water draws the negativity out of you. You feel pure afterwards.”

Emerson set up the UK’s first Operation Amped, a surfing weekend for ex-servicemen with PTSD. He got the idea from an event in California; Gwithian beach, near St Ives, recently played host to its British version.

Russell Pierre, a photographer and fellow surfer, was at the event. Pierre confessed to being “really choked up” by watching men who had suffered in the service of their country learning to surf. “One veteran told me he hadn’t laughed so much in six years since leaving the Army. The smiles, the laughter and the sheer joy were contagious.”

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