GUNS, GLOSS & GUY CANDY!

 

As orders are given for our troops to come home, Fabulous decided it was time to give the ladies on the front line a final pick-me-up

By Claie Wilson

The army boys have had visits from singing sensation Katherine Jenkins and TV star Nell McAndrew, but what about the brave girls on the front line. Don't they deserve a treat too?

We thought so. That's why we decided to take Welsh charmer Gethin Jones to war-torn Basra in Iraq to offer a bit of showbiz and – let's face it – gorgeous guy candy to lift their spirits.

And while the first-ever male forces' sweetheart was doing his bit for the country, we got to meet a few of the brave and inspirational women doing their bit.

Their ongoing hard work in Iraq has meant the last few months have been relatively peaceful.

Even so, just four days prior to our visit, a civilian worker was killed in a mortar attack at a nearby base. It's clear that, despite laughing and joking with their celeb visitor, danger is never far away for these women. In fact, as we were waiting to travel into the base from Kuwait, we were told our flight on a huge Hercules military jet was delayed because the base was under enemy fire.

Luckily, they didn't sustain any casualties. But in the past seven years, a total of 179 British soldiers have been killed in Iraq. Five of them were female.

Out of the 4,000 British soldiers in the country, around eight per cent are women. Although they serve alongside their male colleagues, no female soldier is expected to get close to, or kill, the enemy.

On this base alone, there are 300 female troops – all daughters, wives and mothers.Although dressed as soldiers, their smaller frames and soft voices set female troops apart from their male colleagues.

One of the younger recruits is Private Nadine Askew from Sunderland, who joined the army two years ago. Just 18, she's been in Iraq for four months.

When we meet, she's the only woman in a team of five patrolling an area of wasteland at the edge of the base. Her SA80 rifle dwarfs her tiny 5ft 4in frame.

"All the soldiers work together and have a laugh – that's what matters. We're a team – being a man or a woman doesn't come into it," she says.

Looking around the base camp, you could easily be forgiven for forgetting you're in a war zone. Bizarre though it seems, at times it feels like we're in the middle of a cut-price holiday camp. Walking to the shower block in flip-flops because of the searing 30°C heat is particularly surreal.

The female sleeping quarters are huge domed tents divided up into sections that each house eight sleeping areas.

Built from stone and measuring just 6ft by 4ft, they're topped with sandbags to protect them from flying debris in the event of a mortar attack.

The sleeping quarters are strewn with make-up, shampoo, body scrub, moisturiser and hair straighteners. Girls will be girls after all. Even if they are on the front line.

"I couldn't live without my goodies," admits Corporal Alexis Ashurst, 26, from Cardiff. "I've got straighteners, a hair dryer, a few bits of make-up – all the things that help me feel as though I'm still a woman!"

Some of these tiny sleeping areas, nicknamed ‘tombs', have pink fluffy carpets on the floor. Others have fairy lights strung around. But what every ‘tomb' has in common is photos of loved ones covering every inch of wall space around the beds.

Royal Military Policewoman LCpl Becci Bowdler from Cornwall shows me photos of herself with her mum. A slim 25 year old, she wears her brown hair scraped back in a ponytail. She's just started dating another soldier – but it's early days and she won't say any more about him. All she will give away is that she hopes they may have a future.

As for her family? They hate her being out here.

"They all worry constantly," she says. "I phone Mum as often as I can. My job mainly involves policing the base, but I went on exercises on the Iran border for 12 days, which really frightened Mum. I try to explain I'm OK – I'm a trained soldier – but I guess she'll always worry."

One of her tomb-mates is Corporal Millie Sitonik, 32, a mum of two. Her tomb wall is plastered with photos of her children, interspersed with some of their drawings.

She last saw them four months ago – they're stationed at her home army base in Germany with her husband Ken, 39, an economist. When I ask about her children, Jesse, six, and Mikey, five, her face breaks into a wide smile.

"I'm going home in two weeks for a fortnight and we're having a holiday in Disneyland Paris," she smiles.

"I always get upset when I leave them," she adds. "However, I chose to do this job. I've been doing it for eight years and, of course, there are moments when I wish I wasn't here. After a bad day I would rather be at home helping with their homework, but you get used to it. I make sure I speak to them every day. As far as they're concerned, Mummy's always been in the army, so they don't know any different."

While men and women at the base work, eat and socialise together, relationships between the soldiers are frowned on as it can be a cause for distraction. Even so, the majority of women we spoke to had boyfriends in the forces – although most confessed that it would be very distracting to have their partners working alongside them.

Something that would be even more difficult knowing that at any minute their life could be wiped out if the base came under renewed fire. The recent mortar attacks have brought home to many of the soldiers just how dangerous their job is.

"It was a bit of a reality check," admits Medic Private Kelly Rudd. The fresh-faced 20 year old from Amlwch, Wales, who like most of her colleagues has been out here since November, followed in her father's footsteps by joining the army.

"I signed up when I was 16 as it was all I wanted to do," she says. "But I miss my family and I can't wait to see them when I go back, which should be in a few weeks."

Last December the Government announced in the House of Commons that British troops would be withdrawn from Iraq in July. The news has been greeted positively by the troops. They feel they've done what they set out to do – bring stability to the country. It is, in essence, the beginning of the end. The base's store – where soldiers can buy anything from crisps to cut-price razor blades – is even having a closing-down sale.

"The shopping isn't so great here," laughs our tour guide, Lieutenant Alison Sargeant, 26, who passed out from officer training school Sandhurst three years ago.

"It's not exactly Oxford Street, but you can always get practical stuff such as soap and snacks, which is all we really need."

Life on the base is a mix of tension and boredom due to the relative peace – and there's only so many times you can watch a DVD. So it's lucky we bought Gethin along! Especially as female British troops voted the 31-year-old TV presenter top of their list when asked by their bosses who they would like as their pin-up.

Gethin himself is quite nervous. Bless.

"I wasn't sure what would be expected of me when we got here," he admits. "My main concern was that they would just think: ‘Not another celebrity, what does he care?' But everyone is incredibly friendly."

Friendly is a bit of an understatement. Long spells in the army mean most female soldiers are used to keeping their emotions in check. But when they meet Gethin, they can't stop smiling (nothing to do with his gorgeous bod, we're sure).

They're eager to say hello, and almost every conversation ends with a camera, which has been tucked neatly away in their fatigues, being whipped out so they can be pictured with him.

And when Gethin takes his seat at dinner, he's immediately surrounded by women eager to sit beside him.

"Before I left, my girlfriend Katherine suggested I take a few women's magazines with me for the female soldiers – I ended up bringing nearly 15kg worth," laughs Gethin. "To break the ice, I immediately handed them over with a bag of beauty goodies from Fabulous – the women quickly forgot about me!"

As everyone tucks into their strawberry milkshakes (alcohol is banned in Iraq, so no booze is sold) Gethin and the women are soon engrossed in the mags and deep in conversation.

"It's so interesting getting to see them make the most of being off-duty," says Gethin. "They're desperate to know what's going on back home – not because they're after a bit of gossip, they're just craving a bit of normality.

"But through the laughter I can tell that everyone really misses their family and friends. I heard about plans for leave – girlie holidays, relaxing weekends with husbands. Listening to them I realise it must be so hard to leave their loved ones. I'm not sure I could do it if I was married or had kids."

As the evening draws to a close, despite being desperately tired after a long day, it's evident the women don't want the night to end – meeting Gethin has given them something else to think about other than their 24/7 jobs.

Later, some confide that they usually find it incredibly hard to switch off.

Dog handler Lance Corporal Tamara King, 27, from Telford, admits: "Sometimes I'll have a cry. We're under such pressure, the tension can be incredible. Little things can get to you, such as days when you would love to wear something other than fatigues and put on a really bright lipstick.

"But I'm glad I can say I've been a part of this – we made history out here," she adds. "I've been on patrol in Basra searching for weapons and explosives – it's tense, but it's what I'm trained to do."

As our own tour comes to an end, it's evident that there's a real pride in what has been achieved here.

And as we say goodbye to Alison, she explains how she feels: "I won't be sad to leave, but I'll miss the people – I've made some great friends. When we do go home, we'll all be happy that we've done our job well."

On the flight back, we get a chance to reflect on the last two days. We've had to sweat it out in searing heat during the day, while shivering at night in a sleeping bag as the temperature plummeted. We've met so many inspirational women. But what will stay with us will be their faces – some of them looked wide-eyed, innocent and sometimes scared. But each one of them had a maturity that went way beyond their years and a quiet courage that was truly inspirational.

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Private Nadine Askew, 18	Royal Military Policewoman LCpl Becci Bowdler, 25	Lieutenant Alison Sargeant, 26	Medic Private Kelly Rudd, 20

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