The British Army is once again confronting allegations of systemic sexual abuse. This time it stretches back more than four decades. It has been reported that Wiltshire Police has opened an investigation into claims that military medical examiners sexually assaulted new recruits during routine enlistment checks between 1970 and 2016.
If proven, it would mark the largest military sex abuse scandal in British history.
Detectives say the alleged offences took place at multiple recruitment sites across the country and may involve several perpetrators.
“Our inquiries have revealed offending spanning several decades,” said Detective Superintendent Darren Hannant, who is leading the inquiry. “We are yet to identify suspects. The investigation is in its early stages.”
Police forces nationwide are being mobilised to contact potential victims and gather testimony.
The Ministry of Defence has pledged its support. Louise Sandher-Jones, the veterans minister, praised the “bravery” of those who have come forward, calling the reports “painful and truly appalling”. She promised government backing for the inquiry and insisted that all service personnel “must be able to serve free from abuse, and with the dignity and respect they deserve”.
Lieutenant General David Eastman, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, said the Army was “alarmed to learn that for some of our people, their first experiences of military life may have seen them subjected to such unacceptable behaviours”.
The allegations add to a growing record of sexual misconduct within the Armed Forces. Earlier this year, a coroner concluded that institutional failures contributed to the death of Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck, who was found hanged in her Wiltshire barracks in 2021 after being sexually assaulted by an older officer and harassed by her line manager.
The Army later apologised for “letting her down”.
That case followed a damning report describing how female soldiers locked their doors at night to avoid drunk male colleagues. Successive governments have promised reform, with the Ministry of Defence establishing an independent Armed Forces commissioner to investigate welfare complaints and a new system to remove serious misconduct cases from the traditional chain of command.
Such reforms have been slow in coming. For decades, sexual violence and harassment have been swept under the carpet within a military culture that all too often prizes hierarchy and silence. Few institutions have been as reluctant to submit to external scrutiny as the Armed Forces.
The Wiltshire inquiry suggests that this reticence may have masked abuses of shocking scale and longevity.
It raises difficult questions: how many recruits were affected, why patterns of misconduct persisted for so long, and whether the current system of oversight is adequate.
The British military has often been quick to praise its values of courage and integrity, of which many serving possess. The challenge now is whether it can show the same qualities in confronting allegations of its own past.
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