F e a t u r e s
Sarah Evans on the Operational Tour Experience – from the More Difficult End!
have to admit that I wasn’t too happy when my husband, Martin, told me he would be going to Afghanistan. I had quite
a long time to get used to the idea, as he had told me many months before that he intended to volunteer to go!
The Long Good-Byes I
bad one. Martin said goodbye to the children at home and then I drove him to the base to pick up his weapon. I have to admit to a few tears (thank you to a lovely gate guard for the tea and sympathy!), but I felt better once he had actually gone. Now we could begin the count down to his return.
He was going to Kabul to work with the counter-narcotic team at the British Embassy, and the post would involve a lot of travelling around the country. His tour ran from July to November, so he was to be away for all of our children’s summer holiday.
Lost Puppy
The long build-up had its advantages and disadvantages, but on the whole I was glad to have had time to plan and come to terms with it. However, the last weeks and days leading up to him leaving were difficult for me. Our children were pretty busy with end of term things. Martin was busy on courses and handing over his job at Shawbury, I felt it hard to carry on as normal. If I did, I felt guilty and found myself following him around the house like a lost puppy!
Tea and Sympathy I’m not good at good-byes, and this was a
I am a fairly independent person, and our children are of an age to be helpful and supportive rather than just hard work, so we quickly fitted in to a new family routine, minus one. Luckily, Martin was able to ring us regularly, so I didn’t feel too worried about him despite him being very ill with sickness when he first got there. However, I am an artist, working at home with Radio 4 for company, which meant it was difficult to avoid the constant references to casualty figures and bad news.
Rather Romantic We live off base so it was reassuring to have a contact officer allocated and I made an effort to see other Service wives on base to avoid feeling isolated. Generally I felt confident that I could call on help from the extended family of the RAF if I needed it. On a positive note, I must say it is lovely getting letters from your husband after twenty years
14
Summer 2009
www.raf-families-federation.org.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48