'Say a prayer for our brave fighting men and women'

Brave ... British troops abroad

COLONEL RICHARD KEMP CBE is the former commander of British Forces in Afghanistan.

Here he gives an insight in to the kind of Christmas our Forces heroes will be having.

Insight ... Colonel Richard Kemp CBE

FROM the frozen dugouts of the Somme through the bitterly cold Low Countries of 1944 to Helmand's snow-swept mountains and icy valleys: One small but significant tradition links generations of Britain's brave fighting men on Christmas Day.

In a reversal of roles that may seem strange to the civilian, everywhere they are on duty British officers will be proudly serving the men their Christmas dinner.

But for the officer this is no contradiction: The Sandhurst motto "Serve To Lead" is burned on his heart from the first day in uniform.

The profound respect our officers have for their men, symbolised by this unique Christmas ritual, has, if anything, grown and intensified throughout the Army since the first deployment to Helmand in 2006.

Not since Korea, more than five decades ago, have our soldiers been so severely tested.

Day in and day out they have passed through the fire with a determination, courage and fighting spirit that can only be described as awe-inspiring.

Map ... where British troops are serving

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Map ... where British troops are serving

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The British Army's famed regimental system, developed over nearly four centuries, binds our fighting men and women together into a close-knit family that has enabled them to meet every challenge and withstand every hardship.

In heart-rending words so many of the mothers of our war dead have told how their sons - often little more than teenage boys - grew proudly as one with their regiments, relishing Army life to the end as they fought alongside their comrades to make a difference in Afghanistan.

Freezing

Last year at Christmastide our Forces launched a major offensive against the Taliban in Helmand, Operation Sond Chara, inflicting a severe blow against fighters intent on terrorising the local communities.

Hostilities cannot be suspended even for this season of goodwill.

But whatever the situation at Christmas, our young volunteer soldiers in their austere and freezing operating bases will create for themselves a festive season with the same resourcefulness and improvisation that characterises all of their endeavours.

Trees will be pressed into service and decorations fashioned from the versatile cardboard ration boxes that have 1,001 uses for soldiers for whom "making do" has become second nature.

Wherever they are held, Christmas services will be well attended. There are no more atheists in the trenches today than there were at Passchendaele.

Professional entertainers will get only as far as the base camp at Bastion. Further forward, the troops themselves will lay on comic entertainment worthy of the very best of Britain's Got Talent.

Turkey, plum pudding and mince pies will be flown in to every field base. It is even possible that the odd drop of illicit home brew might find its way into the festivities.

As you celebrate in comfort and warmth in front of the telly, spare a thought for our brave fighting men and women whose daily sacrifices make you safer at home this Christmas.

Say a prayer for their safekeeping - but do not pity them. Of course, they too would prefer Christmas around the tree with their families.

But they won't be downhearted. Far from it. They'll be having a laugh and a joke with their regimental family-in-arms - the closest mates they will ever have.

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