MALMESBURY mum Barbara Bowman, whose son is serving in Iraq, has criticised media coverage of the war.

Mrs Bowman, 54, of Bristol Street, says news reports from front line reporters in Iraq on TV have left her a nervous wreck as she waits of news of her son, 34-year-old James Bowman, who is serving in the medical regiment.

Pictures of executed US servicemen shown on TV last week left her in tears, she said, and now she restricts herself to watching the news once a day.

"I saw the pictures of the executed US soldiers and all I could think of was 'has James been executed?'" she said.

"I only watch the main news programmes at six now. I am handling it better but I had a terrible day that day. If anyone spoke to me I would have broken down in tears," she said.

Mrs Bowman believes the up-to-the-minute 24-hour blanket news coverage leaves parents of British soldiers in a constant state of panic as they wait for news of their sons and daughters.

"In the Falklands war it took a couple of days for news to come back. Now the TV has news of casualties before the people whose beloved it is," she said.

Cpl Bowman was brought up in Malmesbury and joined the Army at 16 after leaving Malmesbury School. He was on a tour of duty in Ireland before he was 18.

Mrs Bowman said he always wanted to join the Army and joined Malmesbury Cadets while at school.

He served in the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment before moving to the medical regiment, where he now serves as a corporal.

Mrs Bowman says she is in constant contact with his wife, Joanna, who is based in Germany with their three young children, Daniel, Emma and Abigail.

She said they were missing their father

"I spoke to James on the Tuesday night before and I rang his wife last night and she hasn't heard anything since then," she said.

"Their little boy Daniel, who is three, is pining for his dad."

Mrs Bowman has called for solidarity between the families of British soldiers at war and said that everyday life has to go on.

"His sister Louise was planning to go to Australia on holiday but didn't think it was right and wanted to cancel," she said.

"I told her staying at home doesn't stop him being killed. Life has got to go on.

"These people are in the Army. They are being paid to defend the country.

"That is the primary reason they are there. If you do not accept that you become a complete wreck."

"When my brother was in Ireland in 1968 my mother was a nervous wreck and I remember knocking on the window of the house because I had forgotten my keys.

"My mother shouted at me because she thought it was the Army."