As recently as last summer, Nick Balsdon was a

desk-bound officer working for the Environment Agency in Worcester.

Today he is risking life and limb in war-torn Iraq as a volunteer with the Territorial Army.

From the daily routine of the military to learning the nuances of Iraqi custom, Nick's diary of experiences is published exclusively in the Evening News.

This is his fourth letter from Basra.

AS Christmas approaches we find ourselves half way through the six-month tour. We've entered the R&R (rest & recreation) phase so on a rolling basis we get two weeks at home.

Ideally, everyone's tour would be split in half, but this isn't practical. So some returned from R&R to face four months still to do. Others are off over the Christmas period. I am off early in the New Year and I'm counting the days on my "chuff chart".

Christmas here will not be too much of a bind though, we've two days off, our first since September.

We generally work a six-and-a-half day week, hours worked vary but a typical working day might be 12 hours, eight 'til eight.

Although my colleagues might say I do less! The juniors will get the full two days off in line with tradition - the seniors will be undertaking their duties over this period.

We'll have a festive lunch with all the trimmings as the food here is more than satisfactory.

For example, to start the day we get a choice between a full cooked breakfast, porridge, cereal, toast, grapefruit, fresh fruit salad, yogurt or croissants.

Add to this the fact that the dishes are washed for us, that we drop our washing off and it's returned clean and folded the next day, that the bar (the Naafi's dry at the moment, however we have a two-can rule in our own bar), shop, restaurant, gym, office and the accommodation are all within 150 metres of each other - and life could be worse.

I let my wife know all this and she asked when she could come over!

Commenting on life over here with another TA soldier, we remarked that it couldn't be more straightforward with very few, if any, outside pressures on us.

No shopping, few chores, and no bills (my wife pays them) your life mapped out for you on orders. It's very much like ground hog day.

Merry Christmas

Nick