Families' joy as Iraq war troops come home

Published on Tuesday 27 May 2008 10:18

ARRIVING at Dreghorn Barracks, the restless youngster in the back of the car breaks into a broad grin as she spies her dad striding towards her.

Three-year-old Robyn Lindsay has been excited for days with the news that her dad Tam is coming home after a six-month tour in Iraq.

And last night her patience was finally rewarded when Sergeant Major Tam, from Niddrie, swung open the car door and scooped his daughter into a big hug.

Tam, 33, was among the first 170 soldiers of the Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, to return to barracks.

The soldiers, who spent Christmas in Iraq, had trained the Iraqi Army and latterly given them direct support in Basra city.

Next up for a tight embrace is Robyn's mum Angela, 34, a legal secretary, who admits it's been hard not to fret.

"It has just seemed so long," she says, "I'm a real worrier as well. He doesn't tell me half what's going on out there, though it's probably just as well."

There's just a small group of wives and families to greet the soldiers. Many of the soldiers say they prefer to keep the emotional reunions for the privacy of their homes.

Yet there's an atmosphere of excitement, with two snowy-haired children waving "welcome home" balloons and a banner on the barracks' gates, stating "Welcome Home 1 SCOTS".

Sergeant George Parker, 33, from Duddingston, is shivering in the breeze, more accustomed to the Basra heat.

"I'm looking forward to seeing my family later," he says, looking tired but pleased to be back.

"I spoke to my wife and my wee boy Jak as soon as we landed. I'm looking forward to taking him to school tomorrow and then a pub lunch in the afternoon."

The soldiers have a day off before they return to work for a fortnight and then are rewarded with a month's leave.

At their Basra Airport Cob base they constantly faced the threat of rockets and mortars.

In recent weeks they ventured into Basra city for the first time since the pre-Christmas handover to the Iraqis.

Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Charlie Herbert says he is proud of what the battalion has achieved.

He says: "For the last two months we've been working in the city, in direct support of the Iraqi Army, embedded with them and fighting alongside them.

"It's been groundbreaking, really historic. We've moved back into the city in smaller numbers at the request of the Iraqi Army, and very much a supporting role.

"The high point of the tour was in the first week of April, going back into Basra with the Iraqi Army, achieving something significant and helping them defeat the militia.

"There was little hard fighting for us to do. By the time we got in we had provided a lot of support."

However, success has not come without a cost, he admits gravely: "We had two soldiers very badly injured: one by a roadside bomb in February and the second was injured six weeks ago by shrapnel from a mortar round."

The battalion will hold four homecoming parades over the next fortnight, one in Edinburgh and the others spread throughout their recruiting area.

Among those taking part will be Lance Corporal Dean O'Driscoll, 22, from Livingston.

Dean was met by his parents, who he says were "over the moon" to see him and his brother Private Barry O'Driscoll, 24.

"It would have been very worrying for my mum with the two of us there," says Dean, a veteran of three Iraq tours.

Helen Marie Tuiwaiwai, 43, a teacher from Colinton, who first met her Fijian husband Jone in a city nightclub, says she is delighted to have him home.

In the months he's been away he's missed his one-year-old son Eroni's first Christmas as well as their wedding anniversary.

"It's unbelievably amazing to have him home," she smiles.