A critic of the US-led operation, Rev. Latimer, of First Derry Presbyterian Church, says he had to wrestle with his conscience, thoughts and fears before agreeing to take up a pastoring role at Camp Bastion near war-ravaged Kandahar.

The Derry cleric, who has assisted in British Army field hospitals for more than 20 years, will be part of 70 staff employed in a medical facility which treats both British soldiers and Afghani nationals.

"If I had said no, then I would have been letting people who need me down", he told the 'Journal'.

"It's like being a priest at home. You are not needed for much of the time. You are needed when people are in difficult situations. I thought to myself: 'What is the point in training to do your job and, when the time comes to do it for real, you walk away?' I am leaving somewhere completely safe and I am going to be seeing things that will upset me.

"I will see men and women dying and I will be separated from my family and friends. The closer it gets, the more scared I get and the more shivers I get in my stomach.

"But I feel this is part of my ministry and is something that I have to do."

Rev. Latimer says that, although he is not in full support of the war effort, he believes he is justified in being part of the British operation.

"It would be against my nature to be part of something that is creating destruction or generating pain or grief within any community", he says.

"The only way I can reassure myself in being part of this is that I am involved with a unit that is going out to provide resources to people who have no choice but to be there because they are under orders.

"In the quieter times, I will be around for people who will have questions about what they are doing there and about God. I might not have all the answers but I am there to give a view different to the Army view."

Perilous journey

The Derry cleric, who is heading to Afghanistan as part of a Territorial Army unit, faces a perilous journey into the war-torn country. Following intensive training in York, Rev. Latimer will be flown in under the cover of darkness wearing full body armour.

"We fly into Kandahar which is a very unsafe place to fly into", he said.

"The plane drops like a stone to avoid being hit on the way down. We then disembark the aircraft and wait until it is safe to move to the base. It is not unheard of to be waiting three or four days.

"Here, I am a clergy man accustomed to a suit and a dog collar. I am going to be sitting in a plane with a uniform and a helmet on, arriving like a stone out of the sky and then waiting to make it safely to a place in the middle of the desert."

After arriving at Camp Bastion, Rev. Latimer will be faced with working in temperatures of in excess of 50 degrees.

"We will be living in tents although the hospital has now changed from tents to a collection of temporary units", he reveals.