It is appropriate at this time of the year to remember and honour those who have served and who continue to serve in our armed forces. However, this year is particularly significant, marking as it does the hundredth anniversary of the end of the first world war. In recognising the sacrifice of those who served in the war to end all wars, I would like to mention those whose contribution can too easily be overlooked.

I refer to the loyalty and the heroism of those who came from what later became the Commonwealth. They came from thousands of miles away to fight for a country they had never seen. People came from some 80 countries now part of the Commonwealth to fight in the first world war. Many came from Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and many more came from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Africa and the West Indies. One and a half million volunteers came from an unpartitioned India alone, and 150,000 troops served in the western front alone. Soldiers from the Indian subcontinent won 13,000 medals, including 12 Victoria crosses. Fifteeen thousand soldiers from the West Indies saw action, and they won 81 medals for bravery. Fifty-five thousand men from Africa fought for Britain, winning 1,066 decorations. In these days of increasing racial prejudice and discrimination, it is right to take time to reflect on these facts.

In cemeteries across the world are the graves of people of all races and faiths, or of no faith, who fought side by side to defend the freedom that we all enjoy, and they sacrificed their lives. We owe every one who served a great debt, and that debt continues today because, sadly, the war to end all wars proved to be false. Twenty-one years later, the world was plunged into a second world war, and numerous other conflicts since: the Falklands, Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan, to name a few.

Many veterans today have to live with conditions related to their service. Recent research from King's College London suggests that conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan may have led to an increase in the rate of, as my colleague mentioned, post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, among members of the armed forces. Sadly, one member, at least, dies every week from this problem. We have to do something, Minister, and I asked you earlier to mention something about veterans, and your reply was so pathetic that I am still ashamed of your reply, because you never mentioned anything in their favour.

And yet, veterans in Wales and their families have faced inconsistencies when accessing healthcare, relying on the third sector and charities to deliver the specialist and rehabilitation services that they need, in spite of the armed forced covenant. Unpreparedness means that veterans face considerable obstacles in returning to civilian life in Wales. Providing veterans with leaflets is not a substitute for the specialist support they need in accessing housing. The same is true of accessing employment. Many veterans have significant skills that could prove useful to businesses in Wales, yet research by Barclays bank shows that less than half of employers would look favourably on military experience on curriculum vitae. There remain no signs to date of Welsh Government's employment pathways. If we are truly to honour the debt we owe to our armed forces, we must ensure the effective implementation of the covenant at all levels. That is why I ask that the new First Minister, on taking office, reviews the decision to reject the appointment of an armed forces commissioner.

Deputy Presiding Officer, the Indian writer Raghu Karnad wrote, and in his words,

‘People have two deaths: the first at the end of their lives…and the second at the end of the memory of their lives, when all who remember them are gone.’

We must ensure our armed forces, present and future, remain unforgotten and appreciated forever in Wales. Thank you.