Home Front

Today, I came across a blog written by the wife of a member of the Royal Marines. She’s been blogging since 2006. Her husband has already completed one tour of Afghanistan since she started writing and he is due to start another six-month deployment in September.
Her blog provides an insight into the ups and downs of life on the home front: the challenge of bringing up her children, the worries associated with news of casualties, the periods of loneliness, and the joys of having her husband home.
Here are some highlights:
Leaving on a Jet Plane
24 Nov 2006

So todays the day. It’s finally arrived. You have just left. The past week has been hard. Mainly because i have spent most of it with my head down the toilet feeling sorry for myself and scared about how i will cope without you.

Three Marines Hurt in Afghanistan
5 Dec 2006

What annoys me is that our own servicemen are being injured and the story hardly breaks onto mainstream news. There still seems to be a lack of public awareness about how serious and dangerous the situation is in Afghanistan. It feels as if the public are being kept in the dark about it. They are happy to run linked footage of Blair meeting the troops and making a publicicty stunt out of it, yet they are not making it clear how dangerous it is for the troops out there. I know from the families point of you, less media coverage is probably better. I feel for the para’s who were out there for months before the marines and there seemed to be a complete media black out on what was going on. They are also unsung heros.

Frontin
29 Jan 2007

So another weekend has been and gone. I hate sundays at the moment. They are the hardest and the loneliest…And January just seems to be lasting forever. Come on feb.

The final Sunday
13 May 2007

So we have done 25 Sunday’s out of what will be 26 of a 6 month deployment…The last few days seem the longest – but I’ve probably said that a few times already. I think by tomorrow i will be more excited and it will seem like it’s nearly over, within a few days it will seem like it never happened. To be honest, all in all it hasn’t been as bad as i thought it would be, but the help and support of friends and family has been a godsend. We are very lucky.

How to amuse a toddler on a rainy day
8 Dec 2007

N revising this weekend for big exam on Monday. Course is quite heavy work load so far but hope that’s the last of it before xmas. Might as well get used to it, come April i will be a mid week single mum and then by September it’s another 6 month’s alone for another ‘tour’.

24 Hours to Go
18 March 2008

Or less than, Daddy should be home at around 2am tonight. Thomas very confused and thought it was tonight and had a brief moment of wanting Daddy and nothing else. 3 weeks seems to have been an age and doesn’t bode well for 6 months come September. I’m not anti-war but i am anti-over stretched-too many deployments-over worked-under paid military. 2 deployments in 2 years is a lot, well i reckon!