Private Jo Yavala

Before: I am going to miss my family. I have been to Iraq before but not Afghanistan. I don't know what to expect but am looking forward to getting out there now.

During: I had a funny feeling about this patrol. I heard the bang and heard on the radio 'man down' … It was the first casualty I have seen. It was pretty awful. I saw the medic treating him, He had no leg. I went back to where it had exploded and then saw his boot floating in the water. Just an empty boot.

After: In the morning when I wake up and in the evening before bed. But out there I was just praying all the time. I was scared. Especially when in contact, you don't know what will happen. I was expecting the worst. Right now I feel a little bit angry, sometimes my temperture rises very quickly especially if I stay too long inside. Sometimes I miss being with all they guys. For the first few days I had difficulty sleeping. I dreamt about different things that happened in Afghan. A few nights I woke up crying.

Private Chris MacGregor, 24

Before: I'll miss family but other than that I am going to miss my dogs more than anything. They are my de-stressers and keep me sane.

During: Most people get used to being away from home but I find it hard. It's your fear that keeps you alive here. But I believe if it's going to happen, it's going to happen and theres nothing you can do about it. If the big man upstairs could do anything, there'd be no dead soldiers. They'd all be alive. That Afghan soldier loosing his legs just now… I don't know…."

After: When squaddies come back they still have a lot of adrenaline and anger in them. If I get like that now, I just go for a walk with the dogs. It is the best way to deal with it, instead of being all tense and ready to snap at folk. The first thing I did when I came back, appart from kissing and cuddling the misses and my bairn, was go for a massive walk with the dogs. I walked for miles and miles not caring where I stepped."

Private Anderson.

Before: I think its going to be horrible to be honest. The work will be intense and there are going to be a lot of casualties. I am scared not of dying but of losing my legs - that would be the worst.

During: Its hard to explain the conditions, how dirty it is. Often when you phone your girlfriend or something and she asks why you aren't talking normally, it's… you’re drained, you're tired, you're dirty, you've not eaten properly for a few days. Lack of water. You're just drained.

After: We try and go there to win their hearts and change their minds… but there's so much poverty and not the medicines to treat them. And they put different value on life. A child got killed, it was nothing to do with the Army it was just ill. They brought the body of that child to an army camp having shot it saying that it got caught in a fire fight and demanding money. How can you change the mind of someone like that?

Private Sean Patterson

Before: I'm not scared though, I can't wait! I joined the army when I was 15 - it is all I wanted to do and I can't wait to get out there.

During: It was horrible. When we got back to safety I broke down crying. We all did. I couldn't sleep that night. I was thinking about home and staring at the stars. I had nightmares and flashbacks and woke up in pure cold sweat. Out on the ground again we were under fire and another two guys lost limbs. It was s**t seeing it happen all over again. I'm scared every time I leave for a patrol. I hate it. It is 84 days left until I go home.

After: I reckon we should leave them to do their own thing. We have lost too many. You see guys coming back missing 3 limbs. They're not going to be able to get a job on civvy street are they. So I don't really see the point. It's not as if we are going to gain anything in Afghanistan, are we? It's their own problem. Deal with it.

Lance Corporal Sean Tennant

Before: I am looking forward to getting back and for the war to be over.

During: IED's are the biggest scare here though. It takes a while to get used to that - and when you are on the ground you eventually realise that not every step you take is going to blow you up. So long as you don't get complacent."

After: Are we making a difference? One of my friends died and then there are all the boys who've been injured…It isn't worth that. I'd say I've got a shorter fuse now. There are small things that can get on your nerves. Supermarkets are bad because there are bright colours and everone walks about like lemmings. It seems like people don't have any purpose here.

Private Ben Frater
Before: I think I am going to miss my weekends and going out partying with friends the most.
During: It has been easier than I thought it was going to be and the area is pretty quiet so going on patrol feels like going for a walk but you never know. I miss home. And I miss showers and clean clothes.
After: The day my friend got shot, that’s the one thing I’ll never forget We were out on patrol but the insurgents followed us onto a track and ambushed us. We took cover in a ditch. My mate couldn’t find any cover and was shot in the leg. It was just a nightmare trying extract him and get the chopper in while we were in water. And now we are home? It’s strange. Quiet. I find that I feel anxious all the time that I should be doing something.

Second Lieutenant Adam Petzsch

Before: I suppose I am a bit apprehensive but I want to see what it is really like.

During: You don't think about it 'till afterwards though as your priority is getting the guy away and back into safety. Then you start thinking about what happened, if it was preventable, if it was your fault in anyway. Before we were on this op I was thinking about how quiet the tour had been and that we had to be careful and fight complacency.

After: At the start of the tour you could patrol kilometres away and no one would touch you. We took over a new compound in a different area and if we ventured any more than two or three hundred metres we were shot at. But I think yes, in parts we are making a difference. I have to think that otherwise.

Corporal Steven Gibson

Before: I have two children and a third on the way. I love them and my wife more than anything. Not coming back and seeing them again… that would be the worst."

During: I have never read the bible before but his place opens your eyes up. When you know that somewhere a soldier has been badly injured or worse you think about their famillies. So reading the bible, well it is like trying to make peace with the big man upstairs.

After: Without fail I always had my St Christopher on my dog tags. One day I couldn't find them anywhere and then three hours later, boom. I don't know how to describe it. It's like… you know when you are about to faint and you get that fuzzy feeling… I never heard the bang but I went up and over. I fell to the floor and was in agony… I didn't want to get sent home but had no choice. Without a shadow of doubt I am still finding it hard to adjust; I still look back. I'll go out for a cigarette and constatnly thinking about war.

Private Becky Hitchcock

Before "My civvie friends think I am brave but I don't see it like that at all. I haven't been scared here but I know there will be times when I will be."

During: The casualty I dealt with this morning was serious. His eyes were wide open but his face was just white and I thought he was dead. Me and him were exposed to the firing which was really scary but I managed to drag him on the other side of the ditch. He had lost his right leg above the knee - it had completely gone. I went to pick up the other one but every bone was shattered. The skin of it was under his back so I had to pull it down. It was thick like leather. It smelt…it's a hard smell to forget. I can't even describe it.

After: A day after that IED it came over the radio that the Afghan soldier was in intensive care but stable. That was the best feeling ever. A few months later I treated a little boy with burns to his whole body. He was dead tiny, a lovely looking lad. We made him stable - stable enough to get to Bastion. But two days later his body went into shock and he died. They had to return the body for us to hand back to the family. Carrying him dead having carried him alive two days previous… it was a weird feeling.