A SOLDIER from Wolverley who spent the conflict in Iraq on the front line - in greater danger than his mother expected - is coming home.

Janice Bradbury thought her son Tony Braley, 18, would be unlikely to see any serious action in the Gulf because of his age and was shocked to hear how the youngster had driven a tank in the thick of warfare when he finally phoned after the fall of Baghdad.

She said: "I didn't think he was experienced enough. He only joined the army last March so I thought he would be at the back, away from where most of the fighting was taking place.

"I didn't know he was in the Royal Artillery, I got the regiment wrong. It turned out he had been involved in a lot of the fighting."

She added: "He had been in the battle for Basra - he drives a tank so he would have been on the front line.

"It is a lot for someone to go through at that age and hopefully he will never have to do it again."

Tony, who went to Hagley High School, is expected home shortly as he has been granted 10 days leave.

Miss Bradbury, who lives in Dowles Road, Kidderminster, said: "I am starting to feel relaxed now I know a lot of it is over. I watched the news all night when Baghdad fell and felt some relief then.

"I am very proud. I can't wait to see him."