A year ago tomorrow the Second Gulf War began with a missile strike targeted at Saddam Hussein. STEPHEN LEWIS talks to some of the men and women of 2 Signal Regiment who served in the war.

LEANNE Thrower was given only four days notice that she was to fly out to the Gulf to join British troops bent on liberating Iraq from Saddam. The 20-year-old signaller, who serves with 2 Signal Regiment based at York's Imphal Barracks, had three years Army experience behind her. But this was different. "I was scared," she says. "I didn't know what to expect."

Leanne's boyfriend Steven Cox, also serving with 2 Signals but not posted to the Gulf, was worried. "He didn't want me to go at all," says Leanne.

Worried wasn't the word to describe how Leanne's parents felt. She had time for a visit to Middlesbrough for a tearful farewell. "My mum wanted to lock me up so I didn't have to go!" she says.

It was almost as hard for Signaller David Granger, 27. When he flew out to the Gulf, he left behind his stepdaughter Sophie and his pregnant wife, Catherine. "It was sad, because I didn't know how long I was going to be out there, and didn't know what was going to happen," he says. "And of course, Catherine was very worried."

Out in the Gulf, David crossed into Iraq from northern Kuwait with a large convoy. The marines had gone ahead to clear the way. There were signs of fierce fighting, with wrecked tanks beside the road; but the troops received a warm welcome. "I can remember a lot of Iraqis standing at the side of the road to cheer. They were happy to see us."

Like Leanne Thrower, Sig Granger was stationed in the oil port of Umm Qasar, in the south east of Iraq. Their job was to set up a network of field communications, and to guard the port.

Umm Qasar had been damaged in the fighting - buildings were riddled with bullets - but by the time the signallers got there, all resistance had ceased.

It was tense, but the locals were friendly. "The Iraqis were more for us, I think, than for Saddam," says Leanne. "They told us they hated him, that we should kill him."

What shocked the York soldiers was the poverty and desperation of the people. "It is awful what they had been through," says Sig Thrower. "You could see it. You would be driving along and there would be a two year old begging for food and water."

That's what also struck Major Stu Gillespie, the officer in command of 214 Signals Squadron. He had gone out to Kuwait on January 13, leaving behind his wife Emma, and their three children, one a baby. He and his men crossed into Iraq immediately behind the first wave of marines who made up the Marine Expeditionary Force. Although he didn't come under enemy fire, he did see American Blackhawk and Apache helicopters striking at Iraqi targets not far ahead.

The streets of Umm Qasar were empty at first. But within 48 hours, Iraqis began to emerge. Having been cut off, without access to information about the outside world, they were wary at first.

"But once they realised the fighting had stopped, and that we were not going to systematically fight the civilian population, they came on to the street to greet us," he says.

He was shocked at the poverty he saw, in a country that should have been oil rich. "I was surprised to see people in what I would have expected to be a thriving national port were in rags, with little food," he says.

That impression of a people impoverished by a brutal regime deepened when he went to Basra in support of the British 7 Armoured Brigade. The luxurious palace used by senior Ba'ath party officials was in stark contrast to what he saw elsewhere - and with the looting in the streets, signalled people were unsure about their future.

Major Gillespie won't comment on the political reasons for war, but he has little trouble justifying to himself his presence in Iraq. "Having seen the poverty and squalor the people were in, I have personal reasons to justify in my own mind the fact that it was right to do something," he says.

He believes most Iraqis are grateful for the presence of British and American troops, who provide at least a degree of stability. "They know it is very hard now, but that, hopefully, it will lead to a better life in future."

He believes to pull out now would be premature and would leave the country open to militant groups.

A year on, Iraq's problems are far from solved. But at least the troops of 2 Signals who fought in the war have been reunited with their families. For Lt Col Stuart MacRostie, Commanding Officer of 2 Signal Regiment, that's the most satisfying thing.

"We got everybody back," he says. "We did not lose a single man."

Updated: 10:29 Friday, March 19, 2004