Soldier heads to front line

8:34am Saturday 17th May 2008

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The proud family and friends of a Borehamwood soldier are preparing to say their farewells when he flies to Iraq later this month.

Darren Dunnicliffe will leave for Basra on May 25 for his first six-month stint of active service since his passing-out ceremony in March this year.The 20-year-old has been training since September in preparation for his trip to the war-torn country with the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment.He said: "I am slightly worried because it is my first deployment and I am going straight to Basra, but they train you for every possible scenario and they really prepared me mentally and physically."We went to Germany on a two-week exercise. This is the first time we met the others in the battalion and it was an opportunity to bond and make sure we had all the drills right before we go out."Mr Dunnicliffe will be deployed on the front line as an infantry soldier, and has been trained to use armoured vehicles and to fight on foot.The former Hertswood School student has harboured ambitions of joining the army since he left school aged 15.Mr Dunnicliffe signed up for a year at an army foundation college but did not take well to the course. He said: "It was like being back at school because it was all indoors. "I didn't like sitting in the classroom - that is what made the army interesting for me, because it was about being outside all the time."As well as a keen interest in physical training, Mr Dunnicliffe has been influenced by other members of his family who chose a military career, including his great-grandfather who fought in both the First and Second World Wars.He added: "My cousin has been in the army for a long time and when I was younger I would talk to him about it and I think it rubbed off on me."As well as his mother, Tracy Dye, Mr Dunnicliffe will say goodbye to his sister Amber, seven, and brother Shane, 18, as well as his girlfriend, Zoe.Mrs Dye said: "I thought the armed forces day in Letchmore Heath last week was great. I think events like this are needed to show soldiers that the public of this country, although they might not support the war, are supporting the boys."I want him to look after himself and come home safely in six months. We have been really proud, watching him go through training. He is putting his own life ahead of everybody else's and I am really proud of that."