Waiting for news of Phil

And no-one is waiting more anxiously than his sweetheart Mandi Errey who last spoke to the 24-year-old Lance-Corporal three weeks ago and received her last letter on Wednesday last week.

Said Mandi, who works at Barclays Bank, Lewes, and lives in Rodmell: 'He is a lovely man and the village is supporting him in every way it can.

'When he was waiting in Kuwait for the war to begin he wrote three letters to me in one day.

'Sadly I missed his last phone call before going into action because his booking went wrong.

'We are all waiting for news. I miss him dreadfully and when he gets back we shall hold a big party.

'But it could take a while. The war is taking a lot longer than we thought.

'I sleep with his photograph in my bed. All we can do is wait.'

Said Phil's best friend Henry Brown of Rodmell: 'We are all very proud of him. Some disagree with the war but this is a time when we must support our troops.'

Mandi met Phil in the local Abergavenny Arms and they have been going out together only three months.

Phil is in the Princess of Wales Regiment but has been seconded, it is believed, to the 1st battalion Royal Fusiliers in Iraq because of his special training.

It is understood he is taking part in the Basra campaign.