The Sun: Gutsy sailor Faye Turney was heading back to her ship off Iraq today just three weeks after she and 14 other Brit hostages were freed by Iran. The Sun
By TOM NEWTON DUNN
Defence Editor
April 30, 2007
GUTSY sailor Faye Turney was heading back to her ship off Iraq today just three weeks after she and 14 other Brit hostages were freed by Iran.
Sailor pals of brave Faye and her fellow hostages are laying on an emotion-charged welcome for them.
The crew have been planning it for days after Faye, 25, revealed: HMS Cornwall is where I belong and its where my friends are.
Leading Seaman Faye and her seven snatched Royal Navy colleagues have ALL agreed to go back into the danger zone following their harrowing ordeal despite being offered cushier postings.
They will rejoin the Type-22 frigate by helicopter today as it continues its stint in the Gulf.
Their brave decision also means they will be once again patrolling in a small inflatable boat near Iranian waters where Revolutionary Guards seized them with seven Royal Marines.
Faye bid a tearful farewell to husband Adam and three-year-old daughter Molly before flying out of the UK last night with Lieutenant Felix Carman, boat navigator Arthur Batchelor and the other five freed Navy hostages.
They were all given the chance to stay in Britain for further counselling to recover from their ordeal, which included being made to believe they would be executed.
But they shunned it, leaving Navy chiefs hugely impressed by their steely resolve.
A senior Royal Navy source said: These are eight brave people whose only wish is to once again do their duty. The nation should be proud of them.
The seven Marines also held in a Tehran jail for two weeks have been given other postings and also return to work today.
Since the drama, all the rigid-inflatable patrol boats in the area have been beefed up with heavy machine-guns, The Sun has learned.
Faye, who revealed her determination to get back to duty in The Sun, said at the time: Im sure Ill be nervous going out for the first time, but its the job the Navy trained me for.
As the saying goes, why should I let the b*****ds get me down?
Defence Secretary Des Brownes review of any mistakes that led to the kidnappings is expected to report in five weeks.
