THE picture of naked paratroopers in Iraq brought a smile to the face of Grassington mum Marilyn Brown.

For among those pictured was her 21-year-old son, Jonathan, from whom she had not heard for several weeks.

Jonathan is in the Parachute Regiment and was sent out to the Gulf at the beginning of February.

"It has not been easy for any of us," said Mrs Brown.

She, her husband Colin, a local paramedic, and 27-year-old daughter Katie have been desperately waiting for news, and could not believe their eyes when they read The Sun newspaper last week.

Inside was a picture of members of the 1 Para's 2 platoon freshening up under an improvised shower in Basra.

The family was just able to make out Jonathan from the army of naked backsides!

"It was a bit of a shock, but at least we knew he was okay," said Mrs Brown. "We are very grateful to the Sun for printing the picture."

By coincidence, the family received a long-awaited letter from Jonathan on Saturday, which had been written in the trenches. While he was unable to tell his family where he was, he was able to reassure them he was well.

Now a Lance Corporal, Jonathan has been in the army since he was 17.

This is his second conflict - in September 2000, he was part of a daring operation to rescue hostages, held by the West Side Boys in Sierra Leone.

On that occasion, one soldier was killed, and 12 were wounded.

Again the family faced days of anguish, not knowing whether Jonathan was among the casualties. Fortunately he escaped uninjured.

But Mrs Brown is well aware of the dangers her son currently faces, having witnessed the funeral of war victim Captain Philip Guy in Skipton on Friday.

"I found the funeral very moving. Our thoughts are with his wife and family. It makes you realise just how near home this has all been - it could just as easily been our son.

"We are very proud of him."

Jonathan was educated in Bradford, and on leaving school, got an apprenticeship as a joiner. However, he didn't like it, and decided he wanted to do more with his life.

He did his initial army training at Catterick Garrison, and joined the Paratroopers four years ago.