05 BIRTHDAY HONOURS

COMEDIAN Toby Foster was doing a CSE show at Camp Bastion in February 2008. He was feeling a long way from home as it was his baby daughter’s first birthday back in the UK.
“It was an odd day for me,” said Toby. “But naturally you don’t want to moan about anything because you’re surrounded by people who are having a really tough time and who are away from their families for months on end.
“That evening, the gig in Bastion was fantastic. As we got to the end of the night, I was back stage thinking about the very different party I’d missed at home when I heard Doll, the singer in the band, tell the collected troops that it was my daughter Annabel’s birthday. I swear I’ll never forget the feeling of 700 people, all of whom were much more homesick than me, singing happy birthday to a little girl they’d never met, thousands of miles away.
“It’s the best birthday present she’s ever had and she didn’t even know about it.”