Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, Tuesday, May 5, 2009:

It would appear I did things the wrong way around by covering pre-deployment training after I had been out to Afghanistan and, if t had been the other way around, I would had more of an idea of what to expect. Having said that it was good to catch up with some of the Scarborough soldiers I had met a couple of years earlier in Helmand.

The first train from Scarborough was cancelled, which seems typical of rail travel these days, but I gradually made up the time – just to miss the connection from Paddington by five minutes.

I was asked for directions to the Arsenal Emirates Stadium by a group of Eastern Europeans. I try my best – I saw it out of the tube train window – but can’t really help with getting them to the ground.

I eventually arrived in Wiltshire after a one and a half hour wait in Paddington.

I was picked up from the station and given something to eat which was very welcome indeed – because I was nearly given a ration pack.

After dumping my bags I was taken out to a FOB which was the main command centre. FOB Jane could pass for one of the bases in the Afghanistan desert – except it is on a windswept and grassy hill in Wiltshire.

After a quick cup of tea I am off to a recently captured base in the village of Imber which, in my mind, takes me back to Musa Qala because the scene is very familiar.

There is a large building which has seen better days and troops are lying everywhere trying to get some sleep where they can.

Polish troops are taking the role of the Afghan National Army (ANA) because of the language barrier. I managed to speak to a couple of Scarborough lads before returning to Camp Knook.

There is a sense of solitude, because there is no mobile reception, so I listen to a succession of retro tracks on my MP3 player.

I then check my kit before trying to get some sleep.