6:00pm Tuesday 7th August 2007
By Nafeesa Shan
AN RAF woman has been awarded a medal for her service in war torn Iraq.
Senior Aircraftsman Lauren Ferguson, 23, was sent to Basra in May 2006 for four months to help transport injured soldiers to a medical base.
Lauren, from Mill Hill, Blackburn, was given the Iraq Medal for her service as an ambulance driver in Operation Telic in the desert region of Basra.
Although she was not on the battleground and only drove a mile from the medical base the former Witton Park High School pupil did help paramedics treat the injured.
She also had some experience of the frontline when the base came under attack at night.
Lauren completed her service without injury and in September 2006 was reassigned to Germany where she will be based for three years.
She said: "There were good and bad points about the tour in Iraq.
"I was working as an ambulance driver so it was very rewarding to be able to help the injured.
"I would take injured soldiers to the medical base for treatment.
"The majority of the time it was soldiers who had been injured in the fighting but sometimes it was other injuries.
"As well as driving I helped the paramedic.
"We worked 12 hours a day seven days a week.
"But it was scary when the base came under attack at night so it's nice to get recognized for having completed the deployment."
Lauren was presented with the medal at a special ceremony in Ramstein, Germany, where she serves with the United Kingdom Support Unit.
Lauren said: "I always wanted to be in the RAF and applied to join when I left school in 2001.
"I have always been a bit of a tom boy and wanted to do this from school, I've been to the Falklands, Brazil, Canada with the job.
"I'm not qualified to fly a plane but I am trained as a mechanical transport driver and can transport explosives.
"Everyone who serves in Iraq for more than 31 days receives an Iraq Medal. And I hope this is the first of many for me."
© Copyright 2001-2010 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.blackburncitizen.co.uk