A welcome drink

Just because you hold the rank of major general, and are the head of one of the most distinguished military families in the country, it doesn't make it any easier for you when both your sons are serving in Iraq and the telephone rings loudly at two in the morning.

Maj Gen Sir Sebastian Roberts sat up in bed in his Wiltshire home that early morning in 2007, muttered "Oh God", and heard his elder son Julian say: "We are both still alive." This was a sensible opening gambit, but it concealed a more chilling truth.

His other son, Orlando, also a captain in the Irish Guards, was being airlifted out of Iraq with grievous head injuries after his patrol was hit by an IED.

Orlando survived — though he now has a cheek made of titanium — but the remorseless death toll that began in Iraq seven years ago continues in Afghanistan.

"You have to remember that only one triple-amputee survived in World War Two," says Sir Sebastian, who retired this year and is now honorary Colonel of the Irish Guards. "We are now getting one every month, a man who loses multiple limbs, but now he survives because the army's medical care is so damn good these days."

This changes the dynamic of caring for soldiers gravely wounded on the battlefield. The ale4forces campaign, which hopes to raise £100,000 by Christmas and is launching today across London pubs, is not designed to provide crutches or prosthetic limbs for amputees but care for ex-soldiers brought low by ill-health, unemployment and the personal crises that are far too common among former servicemen.

When the Irish Guards deployed to Afghanistan a couple of months ago, an old friend of the Roberts family wondered if something could be done to show support. Frans op den Kamp is a diamond dealer who has a half interest in the Bree Louise pub in Euston and went to Ampleforth, the Catholic public school where Sir Sebastian and his six brothers were educated. He wondered whether London beer aficionados might be encouraged to drink for the benefit of the Irish Guards. London's independent brewers and landlords have joined forces to donate 10 pence a pint on selected beers until the end of the year. More than 30 pubs in London and around Windsor, where the Irish Guards are based, have signed up.
The bases in Afghanistan must stay dry — but you can support the troops with a festive beer.

A full list of pubs and brewers participating in this fundraising drive can be found at ale4forces.com