Soldier's family on the front line

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As the bodies of eight British soldiers killed in Afghanistan in a single 24-hour period are flown home, the family of a soldier preparing to return to the country spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live's Victoria Derbyshire show.

Sapper Ross Meehan will return to Afghanistan in September

Ross Meehan is a Sapper in the Royal Engineers and, despite the worries of his mother, Jane Horrey, will return to Afghanistan in a couple of months' time.

"They [politicians] feel it's a hotbed for terrorists to train, and if they don't stamp on it there, then it has repercussions around the world," Jane tells Victoria Derbyshire, who spent the morning with the family in Hemel Hempstead.

"I have to accept that so I can accept him going."

Ross, 27, who is working at a base in the UK, has already seen life in Helmand Province from the front line, having completed a tour of duty over Christmas in 2006.

Well-prepared

He joined the Royal Engineers as a plumber, and his mother says she had no idea how involved her son would be during his first tour.

"I thought he was going over to build and plumb - he soon put me right on that one," she says.

I just pray that we're going to be lucky and have him back Jane Horrey

"He told me that it was a fighting role and if he got to do other stuff, then that was a bonus."

Ross's family finds it impossible not to worry about him, with his grandmother Gladys Pearson saying she gets "very distressed" when she hears about other soldiers who have died.

The family encourages Ross to talk about his experiences but "we don't try to extract information", says Jane.

Ross is sorely missed by his younger brother Alex too.

Victoria Derbyshire with Ross's brother, Alex Meehan, and mother, Jane Horrey

"He's always been my inspiration - he's popular and funny," says Alex.

"We get to know each other again when he comes home. It's quality time when he's back. We have fun.

"We don't talk about the heavy stuff - he doesn't like it out in the open."

Jane says she feels her son is well-prepared and buoyed by support from fellow soldiers.

"He has a great bond with his colleagues.

"We saw them training - they said they would do anything for each other," she says.

But she still struggles with the idea of her son going into conflict.

"Logic tells me he has to go, but my heart tells me that I don't want him to.

"Anything we can do to make his time there easier, that's my role."

<i>Find out more about </i> <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/programmes/morning.shtml">5 Live's Victoria Derbyshire show</a> <i>or read the blog at the programme website.</i>