They and one of Emily’s brothers were initially against the invasion which Paddy described as a bit iffy before it started

General — October 12, 2010 at 5:49

They and one of Emily’s brothers were initially against the invasion, which Paddy described as a “bit iffy” before it started. But the troops had to be supported once they were there, he says.Stephanie’s dominant feeling is pride “I think Emily is coping very well. She’s taken a bit of ribbing because of us, her friends saying that we’re pacifists But I really support the troops. I’m glad Saddam’s gone but I hope we haven’t stirred up too much of a hornet’s nest.”Emily doesn’t know when she will be back.

“She’s supposed to be a bridesmaid at her best friend’s wedding in July,” says her mother. “But she’s got the right idea – she has told us to make absolutely sure there’s plenty of champagne on ice when she eventually manages to get home.”Lt Hughes was given a non-flying role because she has yet to complete a conversion course to qualify to fly the regiment’s Lynx helicopters. Speaking from Al Qurnah in central Iraq yesterday she admitted to being a little jealous of her fellow pilots’ experiences in the air. “I suppose people want to go home with stories of derring-do and there’s nothing wrong with that But you don’t want to have seen what they have It’s better to be bored than dead.”. Medically retired, Ms Kilroy was suffering from severe depression when her fervent belief that war was not the right response to September 11 dragged her out of her home in London for the first time in two years. “I wanted my face to be counted as one against this all-out hunt for Bin Laden which I knew would entail the killing of a lot of innocent civilians.

I wanted Bush to know that people objected to all this chucking about of ordnance. It was extremely difficult to cope with a demonstration in my condition, but since then my anti-war passion has given me a sense of purpose and helped my depression.”By last year Ms Kilroy, 52, was able to get seriously involved in the movement, and took over the day-to-day running of the Stop the War coalition funds. “Now I work five full days a week, although I’m paid a minimal amount for just two of those and work for nothing the rest of the time. Actually, it has taken over my life, I think about it constantly.”The participation of more than a million people in the February march took the organisers by surprise.

“I felt so emotional, it was so much bigger than any of us had expected. I was stationed at the gates to Hyde Park and was there for 15 hours in the freezing cold. It felt so extraordinary to have been involved in something as large as this, something that meant so much to so many people.”She was not surprised when the Government took no notice. “They were going to go to war no matter what people said, or how many people said it But at least I tried my best to stop it.