As British troops leave Iraq, BBC News hears from some of those who served and others affected by the war.

Soldiers have been packing up the armoured Warriors and other vehicles as they prepare to ship them out of Basra.

Sgt Steve Denny and Rifleman Sameer Hassan talk about their time on duty and getting ready to leave the city.

They also discuss the effect the tours of duty have had on their family lives.

Many British civilians experienced the reality of war in Iraq, alongside regular soldiers.

One was Eric Teague-Hellon, an NHS casualty nurse from Stoke-on-Trent who serves in the Territorial Army.

He was on the frontline in Basra at the height of the insurgency and described life there in a series of dramatic letters and phone calls to the woman who's now his wife, Kathleen.

A bereaved father is still asking questions about the British mission in Al Majar al-Kabir that led to his son's death in June 2003.

John Miller said there was ''no planning, no afterthought'' in the events leading up to 21-year-old Corporal Simon Miller losing his life.

Army officer, Major Dickie Head, returned to the spot where a British helicopter was shot down in the centre of Basra, killing four servicemen and one servicewoman.

It was his first visit to Basra for more than two years.

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