MARCH 18: SARAH Jane Masters is in the Gulf as a trooper with the Swindon-based A Squadron of The Royal Yeomanry. She works as a junior project manager for Vodafone and lives with her estate agent boyfriend Steve Pennicott, 34. Following is the first in a series of diary instalments from her.

We're getting ready for war, but obviously I can't say too much because they read my Blueys.

The other night something bit the guy next to me and his hand went numb - we were all laughing, but it was a nervous laugh. We had our torches out checking what it was and no one got any sleep after that.

I am getting only two hours sleep each night. The regular army are just resting and getting sleep before the war, but we will be shattered when it starts. The officers are awful, apart from all the regular army. I'm in with a new crew and we're all having a laugh. For the last few days I've been happy - until they move us again. I might not be able to write much when it kicks off as we will be moving around, but I love you so much. P.S. at least I have got my 15 minutes of fame with the newspapers I suppose.

I am trying to keep strong but it's so hard when we have nothing. I now need to prepare myself for the worst on the front line, but whatever happens it will be okay trust me, I will be coming home. I haven't got time to write loads because of the sandstorms and I now have conjunctivitis in my eyes - I just want to come home.

FOR her boyfriend Steve the agony of not knowing when the war is going to start or how long it will last is almost unbearable.

It has been exactly two weeks since Sarah and 105 of her colleagues left RAF Brize Norton for the Middle East.

Steve is kept informed of developments by the television and newspapers.

The couple had planned a trip to Morocco to celebrate Sarah's birthday in May, but that now looks like being cancelled as the Allied forces step up their presence in the Gulf and talk of war gets stronger.

He received two letters from Sarah at the weekend and spoke to her on Friday night. As with all personnel stationed in the Middle East she has been given a phone card, but it is difficult for soldiers to find a spare phone to use and when they do the lines are bad.

Steve said: "When I talk to her it's great to know she is still alive. But when I heard her voice for the first time it was hard for me. She is absolutely petrified.

"Sarah has been moved from her initial headquarters and is currently out with the 7th armoured division (the Desert Rats) ready to serve in her role as a decontamination specialist. There is no enjoyment in it at all - for the first few days she was in pieces and didn't know why she ever joined the TA in the first place.

"We've promised that as soon as she gets home we'll go to Rome on holiday to sit and talk to each other in a neutral environment.

"This war scares the life out of me, it really does I don't want her to be there, but it's her job and I can't do anything about it.

"I've been trying desperately to block everything out, but I can't help reading the newspapers and listening to the news and that reminds me of what she is going through, though I'm totally supportive of what Sarah is doing out in the Gulf.

"One good thing has come out of this - Sarah has vowed to leave the TA when she finishes her tour of duty in Iraq."