THERE were a few tears shed in the Graham household, in Hullavington, on Sunday night, when Sergeant James Graham, made his first telephone call home from the Gulf.

Sgt Graham, 41, or "Junior" as he's known to his friends, is a vehicle mechanic with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, at Hullavington and was part of the deployment of 84 Medical Supply Squadron, which left the base for the Middle East, two weeks ago.

For the last fortnight, Sgt Graham has been living with the rest of his unit in tents in the desert, preparing for the onslaught of war.

But left in Hullavington, desperately missing him, are his wife Jackie, 40, and daughters Kirsty, 17, and Louise, 15.

"It was lovely to hear his voice on the phone," said Mrs Graham, who works in the canteen at Faccenda in Sutton Benger.

"He's only been away for two weeks but it feels like an age, we're all missing him terribly.

"It feels so strange in the house. He's been away before, in fact he was involved in the last Gulf War, but you never get used to being separated.

"We've been married for 19 years this year and the weekends are the worst, because I'm so used to spending so much time with him.

"I've been keeping myself busy, working, looking after the girls and going for long walks, but there's a definite void and I can't wait for him to get back."

With only ten minutes time on the phone, the family say they chatted ten to the dozen until their time was up.

Kirsty, who works as a junior stylist at Salon Hair Design in Malmesbury, said: "We were all a bit tearful when we spoke to Dad and he said he is really missing us.

"I really miss having him around. When he's at home, I rely on the sound of him getting up in the morning, to tell me I've got another half an hour in bed.

"I also miss him because I've ended up walking the dog instead of him," she joked.

Sgt Graham has been in the services for 20 years and has told his wife that he and his unit are working extremely hard to prepare for the possible advent of war.

"They're all prepared," she said. "But of course, I'm hoping that it does not come to that and that he can come home sooner, rather than later.

"We haven't been notified of how long he may be away, but we've resigned ourselves to around six months.

"Any less than that is a bonus, and any more and we'll just have to deal with it as it comes."

At the Army barracks in Colerne, Celia Manning, 35 and her sons Matthew, five, and Christopher, four, have been using technology to keep in touch with Major Spencer Manning, who led the deployment of 200 troops from the barracks out to the Gulf, two weeks ago.

"We have been sending Spencer, a daily diary by e-mail, just telling him about what's going on at home and how much we miss him," said Mrs Manning.

"For me, it makes me feel that he's here, even though he's very far away and for the boys it lets them share their news with their daddy."

Mrs Manning, who is a part-time GP in Corsham, said: "The e-mail is a great way to keep in touch with Spencer because the messages only seem to take a day to get there, whereas the Forces' mail can take up to two weeks.

"We have been writing letters to him too, but I think the boys find it difficult to understand that he might be away for a very long time.

"Matthew keeps saying things like, 'I think I'll save this sweetie for Daddy' and when we left Yorkshire last week, after spending half term at my parents' Christopher asked if Daddy would be there when we got home.We all miss him a lot."