Prince Harry’s claim media didn’t care about wounded British soldiers branded offensive by string of ex war heroes
WAR heroes and ex-military chiefs last night blasted Prince Harry’s “offensive” claims the media did nothing to back our heroes.
In his new Netflix series, Harry claims he felt angry that outlets like The Sun ignored British troops wounded in Afghanistan.
In reality, we had been championing our servicemen and women for years — and launched a campaign backing Help For Heroes BEFORE Harry’s first warzone tour.
Ex-forces commander Lord Richard Dannatt echoed the late Queen, saying: “Recollections may vary.”
Ex-Para and veterans’ campaigner Ben Parkinson hit out after the Prince waded into the Press in his latest money-spinning Netflix series.
Harry appears to forget that in 2007 — before his first tour of Afghanistan in 2008 — we launched a campaign backing the Help For Heroes charity, which went on to raise £370million.
And our first Sun Military Awards, the Millies — saluting the bravest of the brave — was launched in 2008, after being planned before he headed to the warzone.
Ben, who lost both his legs, broke his back and suffered brain damage in a Land Rover landmine blast in 2006, defied medics by surviving and learning to walk and talk again.
The 39-year-old MBE — winner of the Overcoming Adversity award at our first Millies — said of Harry: “I have no idea what he’s talking about.
“The Sun and media in general have been amazing to me and given incredible support to my family.”
Mum Diane — who spearheaded a successful Sun-backed campaign to hugely increase compensation payouts to wounded soldiers — said: “We could never have done it without media support.
“I’m not sure what Prince Harry is trying to say but it’s certainly not my experience.”
Lord Dannatt, 72, was Chief of the General Staff when Harry served and brokered the news blackout deal which enabled his tour to go ahead.
A year earlier he liaised with Help For Heroes charity founders Bryn and Emma Parry and won crucial Sun backing.
Lord Dannatt said: “Being kind, I would say that Prince Harry’s recollections are not as clear as they might be.
“He may recall the support he and William gave to Help For Heroes in the early days given it was launched on October 1, 2007.
“There is no doubt that Prince Harry returning from his deployment to Afghanistan with injured soldiers brought a fresh focus to the sacrifice many families made.
“But his comments and that focus were one amongst many and there had already been a shift in public support for our service people.”
In the Netflix series, ex-helicopter pilot Harry says: “As we took off, the curtain in front of me blew open and all you could see was the air hospital.
“Three young soldiers all wrapped in plastic and their bodies in pieces. I saw what only people had talked about. That was the real trigger to see the real cost of war.
“Not just those individuals but also their families and how their lives would change forever.
“Stepping off the plane I was angry at what happened to these guys — I was angry that the media weren’t covering it.
“But at that point it wasn’t clear to me what needed to be done.”
His tour was only possible because the media upheld the strict news blackout.
He was eventually rushed back to the UK after a US website leaked his ten-week frontline role.
Lord Dannatt added: “The fact that he got there at all was a miracle; the fact that he managed to stay there for a month to qualify for his medal was wonderful.
“I can only say his recollection of the sequence of events was a little cloudy because by then there was genuine concern for the welfare of veterans.”
SAS hero Andy McNab added: “To claim media outlets weren’t fighting for our injured servicemen is offensive and rubbish.
“If it wasn’t for The Sun highlighting vets’ concerns, there wouldn’t have been an avalanche of charity giving to veterans’ organisations.
“And Harry wouldn’t have got the PR boost which upped his profile when he turned up at those events.
“The Sun has also been front and centre of the campaign hassling the Government to do more for PTSD sufferers which I’m part of.
“And the media in general have been backing our servicemen and women full tilt ever since the September 11 terror attack.”
Grenadier Guards veteran Major Bernie Broad lost his legs in a 2009 Afghan mine blast.
But he rebuilt his life thanks to the support of Harry’s Invictus Games — and media campaigns supporting veterans.
Wheelchair rugby star Bernie, 57, who captained a 90-strong English Invictus team in 2017, said: “I have always found the Press very supportive.
“I remember very well that groups like Help For Heroes were standing up and beating their chests for the military and the Press have long backed our armed forces.
“There was a lot of coverage and tributes at the time about those who died as well as people like me and that was a great thing for families to see as well. I keep all the cuttings. It has definitely helped.
“I’ve met Harry several times and I like him.
“But he’s from a different world and sees what he wants to see. This is very opinionated of him.”
Invictus gold medal winner Andy Phillips, a 57-year-old RAF armourer who suffered life-changing back injuries before the 1990 Gulf War, said: “The Invictus Games gave me a huge boost but it’s wrong to say the media have done nothing.
“By the time the war in Afghanistan started the media were on side 100 per cent.”
Besides getting behind Help For Heroes and launching the Millies, The Sun successfully campaigned for a memorial to soldier Lee Rigby, killed by terrorists in London in 2013.