Mother flies out to serve in Afghanistan... alongside her soldier son

Many service families face an anxious time wondering how their loved ones are faring thousands of miles away on the front line.
For Elaine Howlin, however, things will be very different. The 55-year-old mother of three is about to join her son in the Afghanistan war zone.
The NHS sister will be 50 miles from the front line as her son Martin serves with the Grenadier Guards.

Call of duty: Nurse Elaine Howlin is following her son to Afghanistan. He will fight on the front line, while she will be working in the Camp Bastion hospital

As the 32-year-old Colour Sergeant takes on the Taliban, his mother will be helping wounded Nato troops at the main hospital at Camp Bastion.
Martin will fly out next month for a six-month tour of duty, while his mother will start training next month before her three-month deployment in October.
Mrs Howlin comes from an Army family. Her husband, two other sons and a brother were Grenadier Guards while her other brother was in the Royal Signals.
Martin, a married father of two who has been in the Army for 14 years, is the only son still serving.
Mrs Howlin joined up ten years ago after a Territorial Army recruitment drive at Epsom General Hospital in Surrey, where she works. She joined the 256 (City of London) Field Hospital and is now a Major.

Soldier son: Martin Howlin and his mother Elaine will be serving in Afghanistan at the same time

She said: 'I joined because all my sons were in the Army as was my husband and brother and I had got used to military life but I was always being left behind. They were getting such a lot of job satisfaction that I wasn't, and the Forces do such a great job, I decided it was something I wanted to be part of.'
She added: 'As an Army wife and mother, you think about them every minute of the day.
'In some ways being at Camp Bastion might make it easier for me. In one respect I would be really close to him but I will still worry about him  -  as I would do if I was at home.'
Mrs Howlin, who served in Iraq in 2004 at a field hospital, will deal with casualties from all the allied forces as well as local civilians.
She said: 'I am looking forward to it but I am a little nervous because you don't know what it's going to be like out there. But because I have been to Iraq, I sort of know what to expect.'

Ready to serve: Mrs Howlin will treat wounded soldiers at the main hospital at Camp Bastion, just 50 miles from where her son will be fighting on the front line