Relatives recall 'emotional turmoil'

By the BBC's Jake Lynch
In Cornwall

The skies over western Cornwall were clearing as the Royal Navy's helicopter crews unloaded their gear from HMS Ark Royal.

Crowded onto the balcony of RNAS Culdrose, home to four squadrons of aircraft, families who had not seen their loved ones in four months, strained for a glimpse of them, now safely delivered from the hazards of war.

The youngest family member, at just six months, was Oliver Kurns.

Father Andrew, a naval airmen aircraft handler, told how the thought of seeing his son had sustained him through the stresses and strains of the campaign.

'Foreboding'

"Knowing that I was coming back to him was the best feeling ever, especially when I woke up this morning -knowing I was going to see him again," he said.

The 300 or so helicopter crews set sail in mid-January on what was then officially a military exercise.

But as they followed political developments on television via an on-board satellite receiver, a sense of foreboding set in.

The reunion included a flypast by the helicopter crews

Leading aircrew man Andi Anderson recalled: "We were learning more from BBC News 24 than we were from the actual situation out there."

The war itself went on to become the most intensively reported in history, but Mr Anderson recalled how the relentless rhythm of 21st century media brought its own special hazards.

The low point of the Royal Navy's campaign came when two of the Culdrose helicopters, from 849 Squadron, crashed in mid-air, killing all seven people on board.

Difficult

Families waiting at home heard about the crash before finding out that their loved ones were safe.

He rushed to phone his wife Leigh, just as she was about to switch on the television.

Others were less fortunate, he said and had to endure a period of agonising uncertainty.

Elizabeth Kurns, Andrew's wife, said: "It got to the point where I just didn't listen to the news. The information Andrew told me was what I went on."

She described herself as having been a "complete nervous wreck about seeing him again".

Service families say it is difficult for people in any other walks of life to appreciate what is involved - seeing your husband, wife, son or daughter leaving for a tour of duty, knowing they are deliberately putting themselves in harm's way.

Wren Chef Debbie Thompson arrives at RNAS Culdrose

Mrs Turns described her own emotional turmoil following the end of hostilities, which was now coming to the surface in the reunion.

"It's every feeling under the sun. You can't explain it to anyone who hasn't been in that situation."

Baby Oliver had kept her going too, she said: "Every day seeing him was like seeing Andrew."

By the time all the gear had been unload at Culdrose, the sun was out, glinting on the helicopters as each squadron performed its own separate ceremonial fly past the base.

There were two gaps in 849 Squadron where the lost aircraft would have been.