A group of Brentwood TA soldiers are preparing to say farewell to their friends, families, jobs and homes as they have been called for duty in Iraq.

Although the war has faded out of the media limelight thousands of brave servicemen and women are still in the middle-east on peace keeping and humanitarian duties and their roles remain as dangerous as ever.

Four members of the 45 (Essex) Signal Squadron Volunteers unit from Brentwood are bound for Basra in Iraq where they are expected to work for six months.

The quartet is Martin Titchmarsh, 33, James Crouch, 39, Ali Aktash, 25 and Lorna Stuart, 25.

Lorna, a civil engineer who lives in Hutton, said she had mixed feelings about going but said she was looking forward to the opportunity to put her training into practise.

She said: "I will be working as a driver but I don't know too much else. I could be driving all kinds of vehicles in all sorts of conditions and terrains and it is still very dangerous out there.

"By having new people go out there it means others, who have not been home for many months, can come back and see their families and friends and they definitely deserve it."

Lorna said she would miss her boyfriend and her friends and family and hoped she might be able to visit her mum, dad and sister in Scotland before she leaves.

Before flying to Iraq, Lorna and the other members in the unit will spend a few days at the TA mobilisation centre in Chilwell, Nottinghamshire where the group will receive kit, medicals and administrations.

Ali, who lives in Kelvedon Hatch, said: "We all have very important parts to play and it is going to be dangerous but we have all been trained to deal with the situations which may come up and if anything unexpected happens we will deal with it."

Published Thursday, May 29, 2003

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