The defence minister Tobias Ellwood has revealed his army veteran uncle killed himself, having suffered depression in silence, as he says soldiers' mental illness has too long been “left in the shadows”.

It comes as new figures have shown the numbers and rates of mental health disorder among UK armed forces have increased over the past decade.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, the defence minister opens up about the veteran’s suicide for the first time.

Mr Ellwood’s uncle, John Clarke, found it “impossible to battle his demons” and was eventually “defeated” by them, the minister, who was four years old at the time, writes.

He warns that mental illness has for too long been “burdened by stigma” even though “a third of us are likely to experience some form of it during our lifetimes.”

Mr Ellwood served in the Royal Green Jackets regiment of the Army between 1991 and 1996, rising to the rank of Captain. He was posted to Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Kuwait, Germany, Gibraltar and Bosnia, and is now a reservist.

He said: “During my military service soldiers were happy to declare a knee injury and step back from duties to recover, but voicing a problem with the mind was taboo, considered (wrongly) a sign of weakness.