MINEFIELD cast member Davd Jackson was a signaller in the Falklands/Malvinas War, his duty to listen and transcribe radio codes.

He left the military 13 years later in 1995, medically discharged at 35/36 with arthritis in both hips and knees. He already had attained a psychology degree from the Open University and landed a job teaching A-level psychology to adults but the war had not left him.

"A year later, in 1996, I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)," says David. "I think you'll find that there's often a latency period of ten to 13 years. When I was in the Royal Marines, as a psychologist I believe there's a therapeutic connection in knowing that the guy next to you would be going through the same experience, so I considered my nightmares and sleeplessness to be minor, but when you come outside that environment, perhaps you have more time to think about it. You're not sleeping and there are other nuances that I still have now."

David talks without anger; he is thinker, so much so that he has turned his listening skills to listening to other veterans in his role as a counsellor. What's more, his story now forms part of the multi-media documentary theatre piece Minefield, wherein two British servicemen, one Gurkha and three Argentinian veterans relate experiences both in and after the war.

The Press's other article on Minefield highlights next week's visit to York Theatre Royal, so back to David's thoughts. "War changes you to a larger or lesser degree and you have to accept that. Rather than be cured, because I don't think there is one cure as we're all individuals, you find a way [to cope], with the support of a therapist or people like me who've been through it and worn the T-shirt," he says.

"I believe people in the armed services have a different culture, a language of their own, and sometimes in the transition, things like a military work ethic doesn't fit with the work ethic of the company they now work for. I'm currently working on a project called the Military Afterlife Project with the University of Exeter, which involves myself and a senior researcher going to veterans, meeting their families, and we ask them to tell us what their transition has been like; what it's like being on civilian street.

"Most common is the different work ethic. In the military, if you ask someone in the team to do it by the morning, it will be done, but that doesn't always happen in the office workplace."

David has studied for a doctorate at the University of Bristol, as well as doing two part-time jobs, his researcher's post at the University of Exeter and counselling work with veterans, let alone taking part in Minefield. Busy days, busy nights.

"Am I still impacted by consequences of the Falklands War with PTSD? Yes I am. I experience hyper vigilance in the week before I do the play, when I'm more tense, more alive to sounds around me, but I've learned there's no point getting stressed about not sleeping," he says. "Maybe you have to get up and read a book, find things to do, rather than worrying about sleeping.

"I'm a great believer in writing, in putting down my innermost thoughts, finding ways to manage my condition, like listening to music or physical activity, like the 30-mile bike ride I've just done as there's nothing better than getting out into the countryside."

It was physical exercise that indirectly led to David's participation in Minefield. "I was playing a rugby game during the last World Cup with British war veterans and Argentine war veterans," he recalls. That day he learnt that a researcher wanted to talk to veterans about the aftermath of war, and particularly with David about his knowledge of cultural and social difficulties of veterans and their families.

"I then went up to London for auditions for Minefield with 30 other veterans with Lola and from there I was invited to the workshops. I went along for the ride, to be perfectly honest, and if I got chosen, great, if I didn't, that's fine."

Lou Armour and David were duly selected. "Off we went to Buenos Aires with no script, and we had two months in to put the script together in collaboration with the Lola, meeting the Argentinian ex-servicemen on the Monday after arriving on the Saturday."

How did that go? "We met in quite a staged way, but there was never a cross word, as we all knew we'd been carrying out what our governments had instructed us to do in 1982," says David. "We told stories of our lives, not just the war, which we turned into 20-minute sections of poignant memoirs. But the one thing we never talked about, out of mutual respect for each other's views, was the sovereignty of the Falklands."

Minefield has since played Brighton, London, Buenos Aires, Germany and Athens and is now on a British tour. "One of the things that's so gratifying for us as a cast as that lots of young people are coming to the shows, as well as veterans," says David. "It's lovely to see them engaging with it and meeting us afterwards."

LIFT presents Minefield at York Theatre Royal, March 28 to 31, except March 30, 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.