Wounded veterans explore 1906 shipwreck off north Devon coast

Wounded veterans have been carrying out a series of dives exploring the wreck of a warship off the north Devon coast.

HMS Montagu ran aground on rocks off Lundy in 1906, and divers have been trying to find out what remains and what needs to be done to protect it.

There are six veterans taking part with both physical and psychological issues.

One of the divers, who was medically discharged from the Royal Air Force in 1993, said his injuries were easier to cope with when diving.

"For me diving is the only place I am out of pain following my spinal injury in Gulf War One," said former armourer Andrew Phillips.

"As soon as I'm under the water, I'm pain free and this is great physio. I love diving and here, with the seals and wildlife, it's difficult to beat."

Wounded veterans have taken part in a number of archaeological digs previously as part of Operation Nightingale.

They include work on Barrow Clump, a Bronze Age burial mound and Anglo-Saxon cemetery in the Salisbury Plain training area.

The programme is controlled by the Ministry of Defence with funding provided by Historic England, Help for Heroes and Wessex Archaeology.

Jock Easton, Head of Recovery West for Help for Heroes, says diving allows the veterans to forget their troubles for a while.

He said: "Help for Heroes has used sport as a tool for recovery for many years and this project, where sport is combined with archaeology, is a great boost to their continuing journey."

The wreck they are diving on, HMS Montagu, was launched in March 1901.

On 30 May 1906, the battleship grounded on rocks around the Isle of Lundy in thick fog due to a navigational error while undertaking secret radio communication trials.

The ship could not be saved and had to be broken up and salvaged where it lay.