Royal Anglians apologise to Martin Diver, thrown out of the British Army for being gay

A former rifleman in the Royal Anglian Regiment has received an apology from the British Army 35 years after he was dismissed for being gay.

Martin Diver, 58, joined the military as a 17-year-old unsure of what he wanted in life.

“I couldn’t put my finger on what I was feeling but I thought the army might help, and in a way, it did,” he said.

After joining in 1985, Martin was kept busy with training and put life outside on hold.

But having seen a job advert for those with musical experience to form a regimental band trained by the Royal Military School of Music in Twickenham, Martin applied and was accepted.

With his training during regular working hours, it was here that he had weekends free and more time to be himself.

Martin said: “The early and mid-1980s was not a good time to be gay. A lot of people were anti-gay and the Aids epidemic had begun.

“But I eventually plucked up the courage to go to a gay bar and, after a couple of hours hanging around outside worrying someone would see me, I went in.

“I was in awe. I was blindsided by how relaxed people were.

“This went on for most of the summer, but it led to a downward spiral in how I felt. I remember going back on the train one weekend and thinking ‘I can’t do this any more’. I couldn’t be gay at the weekend and straight in the week.”

Martin did not want to tell anyone of his own rank - in 1989 there was a ban on gay people serving in the army. Instead he told an adjutant who, as he remembers it, took a gulp and said he should take it to the commandant.

“I was lucky because he was a really nice man,” said Martin.

“I went in and told him I was gay and he took off his cap and put it in his in-tray. Then he told me to go outside and have a think about what was going on and what I wanted to do. But I’d come this far. I wasn’t going to retract what I had told him.”

As a result, Martin was put into close custody for five days before being moved to Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital in Woolwich for psychiatric assessment.

Although the psychiatrist was sympathetic, describing him as ‘a victim of circumstance who had nothing wrong with him’, Martin was court-martialled, pleaded guilty and spent three months in ‘prison’ - the military corrective training centre in Colchester.

He was also kicked out of the army without his pension.

Having lost his career and with his future uncertain, Martin returned to his parents’ home in Northamptonshire. Although they were supportive, Martin felt depressed and suicidal, and struggled to focus on holding down any new jobs.

Fortunately, an army friend’s wife ran a psychiatric nursing agency, and persuaded Martin he should join them. Martin did, first as an auxiliary, before gaining qualifications at university.

He has now been in nursing for 20 years and is an Armed Forces Champion, ensuring those whose lives have been touched by the military gain the specialist support they need.

While Martin feels no antipathy towards the army for his treatment, one aspect has irked him and members of his family to this day.

His cousin, Andrew Roberts, who joined the army at a similar time, was told the reason Martin had been thrown out was related to drugs.

Whether he was told this because drugs were considered less of a disgrace than being gay is unknown, but when word got back to Martin’s parents it made the situation ‘much worse’ for them.

“There was already a deep sense of embarrassment and shame,” said Martin. “I was considered to have disgraced myself and the regiment. I could live with disgracing myself in their eyes, but not the regiment. The most devastating thing is the rejection.”

On Monday (February 17), Martin returned to ‘the family’ that had cast him out in January 1990.

2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment ‘The Poachers’ hosted an event in the officers’ mess at Kendrew Barracks near Cottesmore to welcome Martin back into the army and the regiment.

Martin was accompanied by his PTSD service dog Oli, who he has had for four years, and rarely leaves his side. Oli has, according to Martin, had a bigger positive effect on his self-esteem and positivity than any of the therapy sessions or medication he has tried.

Presenting Martin with a letter of apology from the prime minister, and the regiment’s tie, cap and an Etherton pin badge, Colonel Guy Foden said he had displayed courage, determination and support for others, all ‘hallmarks of a good soldier’ while the army had been ‘poorly sighted’.

The apology he gave on behalf of the regiment and the army is part of the Project Etherton initiative. Lord Etherton carried out an independent review into the experiences of more than 1,000 people treated unfairly by the Armed Forces due to their sexuality between 1967 when homosexuality was legalised, and January 2000 when the law banning gay people from serving was repealed.