A WORRIED mum says she cannot sleep while her sailor son takes part in the attack on Iraq.

Anita Golding, 44, of Weston Grove, Bromley, knows her son is heavily involved in the war.

Leading Seaman Christopher Hooper, 23, is on the Royal Navy frigate HMS Richmond which is currently stationed in the port of Umm Qasr in southern Iraq.

The strategically-important port near the Kuwaiti border was secured after fierce fighting and Mrs Golding says her son was involved in the operation.

The mother-of-three said: "He is a gunner on the ship but he also drives the speed boats which take troops onto shore.

"When I last spoke to him on March 23 he said he was in the thick of the action."

Along with his crewmates, the young sailor, who joined the Royal Navy five years ago after studying at Kemnal Technology College in Sidcup, is constantly on full alert and has told his mother what that means for the crew.

Mrs Golding said: "He had not been able to shower or shave for four days and had been sleeping on the floor. His old quarters were below the waterline and that is not allowed now war has started. They sleep when they can." Mrs Golding added: "He sounded anxious and was upset he could not send me a Mother's Day card."

The casualties British forces have already suffered has affected morale according to Mrs Golding. She said: "Christopher was upset about the helicopter crashes and the boys who died, but they have not had time to dwell on it."

Mrs Golding has felt the strain since her son left for the Persian Gulf and this has got worse since the war began.

She said: "I am having a lot of trouble sleeping and I have the news on from the moment I wake up until I go to bed. I say to myself he will come home but I fear the worst sometimes and I would go to pieces if anything happened. We are very close."

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