Published: Thursday, 24th April, 2008 09:00
"Campaign will help returning heroes back to normality"
By Rose Harland
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Months of worrying for Emma Lawes should be over today – her husband is due home from Afghanistan.
Senior Aircraftsman Wayne Lawes, 43, a volunteer member of the Royal Air Force Reserve, has been stationed at Camp Bastion in notorious Helmand province since January.
Senior Aircraftsman Wayne Lawes
As she waited for his return, Emma, 37, said: “I’m getting so excited. I’m crossing the days off the calendar.”
But if anyone can understand the strain of being stationed abroad, and the challenges of re-adjusting to civvy street, it is Emma – because she was one of the first women to join the RAF Reserve, and was part of the peace-keeping force in Bosnia.
She said: “My husband’s the strong, silent type, but I want him to realise that I’m there to help him and everyone else is there for him. My family and friends have been brilliant, but I miss having him around.”
Wayne normally works as transport co-ordinator at the Army’s School of Military Survey at Hermitage, but while in Afghanistan with 606 Squadron, his task has involved refuelling helicopters.
Emma said: “He’s not right at the front line, but he’s as close to it as I would want him to be. He’s finding it quite hard, obviously, because he’s that much older and he’s having to work long shifts. It’s hot, 35-40 degrees Celsius, and there’s all the sand. When he went out in January it was very wet, and the desert all turned to slush.”
The couple live in Harrington Close, Thatcham, with Lucy, their Jack Russell.
When at home, Wayne keeps busy playing rugby, drumming in a band, and fishing.
Emma, who works as a bus driver, said: “He’s always wanted to join the Army since he left school. He worked at the depot in Thatcham for 20 years, then he went to work in a normal civilian job but didn’t like it.”
She joined the RAF Reserve in 1996 and Wayne signed up in 2000.
Emma said: “It’s a good way to meet new people, new friends. I got to do all sorts of things I wouldn’t do in civilian life, like drive a lorry and shoot a rifle.
“In 2003 we both got called up but Wayne was sent to Iraq, and I went to Bosnia. The distance was hard. I couldn’t cope. At times we couldn’t contact each other for months. But this time it’s not been too bad. He writes to me regularly and phones me once or twice a week.”
Emma left the service in 2004, but vividly recalls the difficulty of adapting to the return to civvy street. She said “It’s like Christmas, you get all of the build-up and after you get back it’s a let down. You come down to earth with such a bang.
“You hate it when you’re out there, but as soon as you’re back you miss the people you were with and the things you were doing. You remember the experience and get a lump in your throat.
"You remember the people you were with, and the people you heard of who were killed. It’s like they were a comrade even though you never knew them and it’s quite sad.
"I think it’s good to have the Value for Valour campaign, because I’m sure it would help people get back a sense of normality and help reassure people in those companies that you are doing a good job, you are appreciated and you’re not just coming home to nothing. It’s nice to see that people in the Armed Forces and Reservists are recognised for what they do.”
Emma added: “We’ll have been married 15 years this August, and we’re renewing our vows. He’s decided now he’s 43 he’s done his time for Queen and country. I’ve been away for the first eight years, and he’s been away for his eight, and we’ve never had a proper married life, so we want to have a new start.”
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