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A sudden spike in suspected suicides among British soldiers serving in Basra has raised concerns in the Ministry of Defence.

It is thought that three soldiers may have taken their own lives between December 4 last year and February 12, but why they may have done so now remains a mystery.

Operational pressures in southern Iraq had diminished to such an extent that the majority were spending 60 per cent of their tour on “downtime”, which means relaxing in the camp at the Basra airbase waiting for the call for their units to pull out and go home.

An investigation was launched into the deaths, all of which involved fatal gunshot wounds, and a common thread began to emerge. Although the deaths were not linked, the common denominator appeared to be that, with so much time on their hands, the individuals had begun to focus their minds on personal problems back home.

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The details of all three cases have yet to be examined at an inquest, but the investigation by the Royal Military Police has indicated that personal difficulties, not operational pressures, were at the heart of the incidents that led to their deaths.

The Times understands that another soldier recently had to be talked down from a reinforced sangar in Basra when he was threatening to jump. All units were put on alert to watch out for soldiers who appeared to show signs of distress and told to make sure that anyone with problems went to see the camp welfare officers.

The three who have died since December 4 - Private Wrathall, from Surbiton, in Surrey, Corporal Lee Churcher, 32, serving with Headquarters 20th Armoured Brigade, and Lance Corporal David Wilson, 27, of 9 Regiment Army Air Corps - were among nine servicemen and women who are known or believed to have taken their own lives in Iraq or while preparing for duty in Basra at home.

Senior defence sources told The Times that one of the lessons learnt from the three latest cases was how important it was to remain alert, even in periods when the operational tempo had dropped dramatically and the stresses of warfare had vanished.

The Army kept a wallchart showing how downtime had risen sharply in recent months. The sources said that when combat operations were at high levels, the soldiers were so consumed with the tempo of work that there was less time to worry about more personal matters.

However, an examination of the suicides shows that operational pressures did sometimes play a part. Two experienced members of the Royal Military Police Special Investigation Branch took their own lives, apparently after facing overwhelming pressure because of the series of inquiries that had to be launched into incidents involving British soldiers where Iraqi civilians had died or been wounded in gunfire exchanges.

Staff Sergeant Denise Rose, 34, was found dead from a gunshot wound at the British army base in the Shatt al-Arab Hotel in Basra on October 31, 2004. She was the first British female soldier to die in Iraq and an inquest ruled that she had committed suicide.

Captain Ken Masters, 40, married with two children and officer commanding 61 Section of the Special Investigation Branch, was found hanged in a small barrack room at the main British camp at Basra airport on October 15, 2005.

The other suicides included two that took place back in Britain. Kingsman (Private) Jason Chelsea, 19, of the 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, from Wigan, took an overdose because of apparent concerns about whether he would be expected to shoot child suicide bombers when his unit went to Iraq.

Private Gary Boswell, 20, of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, from Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, was found hanged while he was on leave from Iraq.

Basra army suicides causes alarm in MoD

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