AS her husband fights for Queen and Country an Orford army wife is appealing for people to help the effort in Afghanistan by supporting British soldiers.

Karen Brittle’s husband Rob has been in Afghanistan for a month on what will be his last tour of duty.

As she and her family rally around to send letters and parcels to keep his spirit up, she was struck by the number of soldiers serving there with no family.

“Whenever someone gets a parcel they always take one thing out and put it on the table for those lads,” said Karen, aged 39, from Orford.

“It costs nothing to send a parcel under 2kg to the forces, so I would like to ask people to think about sending things to soldiers,” she said.

“The most important thing is that the soldiers will know they’re being thought of. It will go a long way,” she said.

Keeping Rob’s spirits up is important to Karen, their five-year-old daughter Lauren, and Karen’s three other children.

They constantly send him letters, packages and emails to make sure he knows he’s loved, even though it can take up to six weeks for post to reach him.

Rob, aged 40, was posted to Afghanistan just after renewing his contract with the army. Knowing that he could have been out of the forces and still at home makes his tour of duty harder to bear for Karen.

“I wish he’d just come out now but at the time it seemed a good idea,” she said.

“I get through day by day and go to bed and think, ‘That’s one more day and I’ll deal with tomorrow when it comes’, and just hope there’s no knock on the door,” she said.

Hearing of soldiers’ deaths in Afghanistan worries her. “Every one is another family without a daddy or a husband or a son. I hope to God we don’t have to go through that.”

Rob is in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), attached to the Royal Artillery. He’s based near Helmand Province, where his job includes ensuring all equipment is working properly.

He has previously worked in Iraq, where he was christened The Legend by his lads.

“This is his last tour and I just want him to know that I’m very proud of him and all the other lads out there too,” said Karen.

You can send parcels to
For A Soldier
c/o The Padre
Camp Bastion
BFPO792