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Mum is so proud of her brothers in arms
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| DUTY BOUND: Mum Jane Moitt with her soldier sons Christopher, Michael and Darren |
THREE brothers from Birkenhead are set to be deployed on a six-month peacekeeping tour of duty in Iraq.
Former Park High School pupils Christopher, aged 21 Michael, 20, and 17-year-old Darren Kilby are in the first Mercian Regiment and have already spent months on Iraq-related training.
But when they touch down in the troubled country as part of an operation working with the security force on November 11, they will be split into different Iraqi provinces by the army to reduce the risk of a Saving Private Ryan-style family tragedy.
For their proud mum-of-five Jane Moitt it is going to be an anxious time because Christopher, aged 21, is a team commander and has already served in Iraq. Darren will be a gunner and Michael a sniper.
Jane - married to a soldier who is in the same regiment as her sons but will not be deployed on this tour - told the Globe: "I'm very proud of my sons but also very nervous, because it's the first time they will have all been away from home at the same time. We also don't know what will be waiting for them when they get out there."
Christopher said: "I'm looking forward to getting back out there and getting the job done. It's calmed down a lot since
"I was last out there. it's still scary, but we've trained hard and are ready to do what we signed up for."
Michael married Nicola three months ago and admits that the tour has come at a bad time: "Nicola knew what could happen when she married me", he said "But it's still going to be hard."
| "I’m very proud of my sons but also very nervous, because it’s the first time they will have all been away from home at the same time." | | Jane Moitt |
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The first Mercian Regiment was formed in September and consists of 550 men, all recruited from within the county of Cheshire, including Wirral, Chester, Crewe, Stockport and Macclesfield.
The regiment's commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Ian Cave, who has served in Iraq since President Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2004.
He said: "Fortunately, the area we will be operating in has been relatively quiet since July, but we are ready to operate if the situation changes. Because we're starting the tour in winter the heat won't be a great issue for the lads.
"Having three brothers serving is not unusual for this regiment.
"There are five or six sets of siblings in the batallion and it's one of the reasons why we are considered a family batallion."
The Mercian Regiment is the Army's newest regiment and was formed in September following the amalgamation of three neighbouring county infantry regiments, including The 22nd Cheshire Regiment.
Its current barracks are in Catterick Garrison, Yorkshire where the battalion moved from Northern Ireland in July.
Their deployment to Iraq is part of a larger Brigade formation called Four Mechanised Brigade.
Also part of 4 Mechanised Brigade is 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment which recruits its soldiers from Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Cumbria.
5:00pm Tuesday 30th October 2007
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