A forgotten army, navy and air force too, they are entrenched in every part of Gwent.

Some of this invisible host was at Dunkirk, or D-Day, or both.

Others were on the murderous Russian convoys. Some flew in the bomber offensive which claimed 55,000 British lives.

Others are veterans of more recent campaigns stretching from the Second World War to the present, a chain unbroken except for only 40 days since 1945 in which British trops have not, somewhere in the world, been on active service.

Bill Palmer is 65 and from Rogerstone. He is one of 20 case workers for SSAFA - the Soldiers, Sailors and Airman's and Families Association - which helps ex-servicemen who have fallen on hard times or faced domestic difficulty.

He said: "They come from all branches of the services and have served in every part of the world and for whatever reason have fallen on hard times or have a problem that badly needs sorting out. SSAFA doesn't have a lot of money but we know the people who do.

"Our job is to help the men and their dependants who need some of the comfort and security almost everybody nowadays takes for granted."

Mr Palmer still looks every inch the RAF policeman he used to be. But the cropped hair and inscrutable face mask the emotions which he admits are those of a big softie.

"Serving these men and women is a passion for me," he says.

"If you've been in the forces yourself you can look beyond the old widower of 80 in surroundings which might fall far short of what the rest of us expect to enjoy and see him as he was. It's not hard to imagine him as one of your own mates.

"We don't care what branch of the services anyone was in. They've all done their bit and are entitled to other people's help and gratitude."

"We haven't any veterans of the Great War in Gwent but theoretically we deal with men and women who have served from the First World War right up to the Gulf," Mr Palmer says.

"Veterans of the last war and their dependants are still a large part of our work but men who served in the Falklands, or even in the Gulf, are coming on to our radar screen.

"SSAFA is an enabler. Lots of charities and statutory bodies have money which can help these people but often it's a case of first finding out what their needs are and working out what they are entitled to from what source.

"Maybe the problem isn't so much money as sorting out paperwork. Whatever it is, we can usually come up with something."

Alan Roberts is a former Fleet Air Arm electronics specialist and SSAFA's Gwent branch secretary. Last year, help was extended in 290 instances, almost a half of those originating in Newport, he says. '"All social work has its satisfactions but for us, the fact that these people have served gives us understanding of their lives. It's easier to help if you can identify with those in need."

Anyone who served, or is serving, in any of the armed services or the Merchant Navy, or who is or was a dependant, is entitled to SSAFA's help. The charity is organised into divisions based on each of the Gwent boroughs, with three case workers in each except for Newport where there is five. A tiny office in a corner of the parade square at Raglan Barracks in Newport is HQ.

Penny Minton, wife of an RAF man and who oversees Newport, says tender loving care from a serving unit makes SSAFA's work possible.

"104 Regiment, Royal Artillery gives us a room and all sorts of other help, tangible and intangible. We get involved with serving people. Young men based at Beachley or St Athan are subject to frequent tours of duty with resulting pressures on home life.

"Generally, though, our clients are in a much older age category.

"Debt is a big problem for many of our clients as is loss of two kinds - through bereavement or theft. As people get older they might need chairlifts, or better household appliances - the list is virtually endless.

"Regimental and service charities often have money but obviously they can't have case workers everywhere.

"We do the face-to-face work and other bodies provide the money. We are the boots on the ground."

Relationships between SSAFA and the Royal British Legion are excellent, the RBL providing between a quarter and a third (£46,000) of the £169,000 disbursed by Gwent SSAFA annually. Many think it inevitable that SSAFA will become a self-sustaining welfare branch within the larger organisation. Mr Palmer, who is also an RBL case worker, shares that opinion, as does Mrs Minton. Nobody seems over-concerned about this. It is the clients who count.

"You see pictures on the television of our soldiers, sailors and airmen in action and everyone is proud of them," Penny Minton says. "The time will come when they are in their 70s or 80s and might need our help. Our job is not to forget. In whatever form, we will be there for them."

* SSAFA can be contacted at 01633 264530.