By Lars Niven

THE MOTHER of one of the two young Fife soldiers killed in the latest bomb blast in Iraq has urged Prime Minister Gordon Brown to bring the troops home.

Paulene Ward, whose son Jamie Kerr lost his life when the roadside bomb went off, spoke of her terrible sense of loss.

Private Kerr, from Cowdenbeath, and Private Scott Kennedy, from Oakley, had just got out of an armoured troop carrier when the device ripped through their patrol. They were both just 20 and were serving with The Black Watch.

So far seven young men from Fife have died while serving with the regiment in Iraq.

Corporal Paul Joszko (28), from Wales, was also killed in Thursday’s attack.

A fourth soldier, who has not been named by the Ministry of Defence, was badly wounded and is being treated in a British military hospital.

The families of both Fife soldiers have so far declined to speak to the media.

However, Mrs Ward revealed on her website that the Prime Minister, in whose constituency her home lies, phoned her to pass on his condolences.

She thanked Mr Brown for his concern but wrote under the heading, Must Happen, on her site, “Gordon Brown brings all the troops out of Iraq.

“How many more families must go through this pain?

“It’s not funny—bring our boys home safe and sound asap.”

Mrs Ward desperately tried to contact Jamie through the internet after hearing about the incident in Iraq.

Mrs Ward left a message on her son’s webpage saying, “Please get in touch asap,” but she never received a reply.

Hours later she learned that he had been killed.

She paid tribute to her son on her own website. “I can’t even begin to explain the pain I’m feeling right now or the emotional rollercoaster I’ve been on for the last 24 hours,” she wrote.

“My heart is breaking, I feel no pain, just numbness.

“I see no light at the end of the tunnel. My son, my action man, has been taken from me. I can’t believe I will never see or hear from him ever again.”

She added, “I feel empty, sad and bitter. I keep asking myself, why him?

“God only takes the good ones, so I’ve been told, but this does not help to ease my pain and grief.

“All who knew him will cry a silent tear. His smile lit up every room he entered. My cheeky rogue, everyone loved him, you will be sorely missed. I just want to say always remembered, never forgotten, forever and always you are in our thoughts, my hero.”

Mrs Ward said the lives of her family had been turned upside down by the tragedy, but insisted they would remain strong.

Tributes flowed to her son’s website from family, friends and army colleagues. One simply bore the motto of The Black Watch, Nemo me impune lacessit, meaning: No one touches me with impunity.

The flag at Fife Council’s headquarters in Glenrothes still flew at half-mast yesterday in tribute to the two young soldiers, who both volunteered to go to Iraq and had been in Basra a matter of weeks.

It emerged yesterday that Private Kennedy, Casper to his friends, had been excited at the prospect of serving in Iraq and wanted to win a medal before coming home.

But Pte Kerr was less than impressed with the posting and revealed on his website he just wanted to come home.

Just hours before he went on the fatal patrol he wrote, “Missin’ you guys back home...can’t wait to be back.

Provost Frances Melville said as a mark of respect the flag on Fife House, and on other prominent council buildings, would remain at half-mast over the weekend.