IRAQ CRISIS: NEXT month, Sophie Croft will celebrate her first birthday, but there will be someone very important missing from the celebrations - her father, Staff Sgt Andy Dutton.

Sgt Dutton is one of the hundreds of Wiltshire forces personnel currently stationed in the Gulf.

His wife, Sophie's mum, Alex, 23, doesn't know where he is, or when they will see him again.

"The news makes me depressed, so I tend to avoid watching it as much as possible," she said.

Mrs Dutton, is herself a Lance Corporal and, like her husband, is based at Colerne, near Chippenham.

"Andy has been gone two months and although I am OK at work and the routine of looking after Sophie helps, like many of the wives, I do have days when I cry a lot," she said.

"It's terrible not knowing where he is. Every time there's news of someone killed over there, I rush to the TV, hoping I won't hear anything about his unit.

"Then, when I realise he's safe, I feel guilty that some other family has lost a husband, or son."

Since much of the telephone and electronic communication was cut by the Armed Forces, Mrs Dutton has had to rely on the Forces mail to find out how her husband is doing.

"People think we know where our boys are and are in regular contact, but the families rely on the TV news as much as everyone else," she said.

The Duttons brought their wedding forward, cancelling their dream wedding in the Dominican Republic, to marry at Chippenham Register office, before Sgt Dutton was drafted out to the Middle East. Just a week after their marriage, he was gone.

"Thank goodness I have Sophie to look after," said Mrs Dutton.

"Since Andy left, she's even started to say da-da and points at his photo.

"When I last spoke to him a few weeks ago, he was really emotional when I told him about it.

"I've also said that although Sophie is one next month, we'll have some presents and cards with my family, but we'll wait to have a real party for her, until her daddy's home."

She says she feels hurt when she hears anti-war protesters saying soldiers should be pulled out of Iraq.

"Those soldiers, including my husband, are willing to give their lives and it makes me fume when people bad-mouth them," she said.

"Like everyone with family in the Gulf, we just want this conflict resolved as soon as possible and them returned to us, safe and sound."

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