Two brave young members of a Burnham-On-Sea family have begun careers in the army.
Former King Alfred School students Joshua and Natasha Gratton, pictured, have both passed out during recent weeks, having completed rigourous training programmes.
Joshua, 20, joined the army in February and after a very intense training programme passed out at Catterick and is now based at Chepstow 1 Rifles. He will be going on his first tour of duty early in 2011.
Sister Natasha, 19, is also in the army and has recently completed her first training programme and passed out from Pirbright Army Training Centre. She is currently undergoing further training to become a Royal Military Police Officer.
The pair’s mother, Claire Gratton, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “As you can imagine, I am very proud of both of them. It’s a great achievement by both to complete such rigourous training programmes and be accepted into the army.”
While she says she is concerned about Joshua’s tour of duty, she added: “Statistically at his age, Joshua has a greater chance of being hurt in a road accident in Britain than being injured at war. Generally, we only get to hear bad news from the warzone, not the large quantity of positive, successful work. I am hugely supportive and proud of both of them.”
