Chester soldier speaks about his first tour of Iraq

Jun 11 2008 by Allison Dickinson, Chester Chronicle

A SOLDIER has returned home from his first tour of duty in Iraq.

Corporal Terry Webster, 22, a former pupil of Blacon High School, was reunited with his wife Charlotte and two-year-old daughter Jessica when he landed at Catterick Garrison, Yorkshire last week.

This was his first tour of duty in Iraq, having previously served in Northern Ireland and the Falklands.

Cpl Webster was a section commander in a rifle platoon of B Company 1 Mercian, formerly known as the Cheshire Regiment.

He spent the first three months of the tour in Basra and the second half in Baghdad.

“In Basra we were looking after the internment facility, while in Baghdad we were providing protection for senior British military,” he said.

“We didn’t get off the contingency operating base much in Basra but we got out more when we reached Baghdad.

“Incidents were happening on a daily basis – car bombs, improvised explosive devices and contacts with the enemy. You would hear them go off and you would go straight into your drills.

“A lot of the time, the lads would just be having a laugh while all this was going on around them – that’s what soldiers are like!”

Full story in Friday’s Chronicle.