The crew of a Challenger tank in Kuwait await orders

Carol and Doug Jones, from Northam near Bideford, created the group to provide help and reassurance for the families left behind.

They also hope to send parcels and goodwill cards out to the troops.

The couple's son, Dean, is in the Gulf with his tank regiment. And Carol remembers the last Gulf War, when her other son, Mark, was in action.

You felt you were the only person with a child out there Carol Jones Chat with others whose family and friends are serving abroad

She said: "It was very scary, very lonely because we did not have this sort of support group to start with.

"You felt really on your own. You felt you were the only person with a child out there. You would sort of walk around in a limbo. You can't do anything. You just watch the news."

At the weekend the group made contact with several other parents in the same position.

They have enlisted the help of businesses in Bideford to make available blank cards and postcards for anyone who wants to send one to a serviceman or woman.

And they are hoping people will combine to make up parcels of goodies like hot chocolate, foot preparations and toilet rolls to send out.

Reservists called

Meanwhile, reservists from RAF St Mawgan's 2625 Squadron have been activated for the first time in the squadron's 20-year history.

More than 300 people from the airbase near Newquay are now in the Gulf carrying out deep patrols around Iraq's perimeter and manning observation points.

A spokesman for the base, Squadron Leader Dave Webster, said their main problem will be coping with extremes of temperature.

He said: "They've gone out equipped with a full range of clothing that will take them through the daytime temperatures and the cold of the evening.