“THE hardest part was my daughter telling me I didn’t love her because I was out fighting instead of being with her.”

Those were the words of Wantage war hero Claire Griffiths, who has returned from a tour of Afghanistan to be reunited with her husband Simon and four-year-old daughter Nicole.

The 33-year-old Staff Sergeant with 3 Logistic Support Regiment grabbed national headlines over the summer after becoming the only British woman to drive combat vehicles on patrol in Afghanistan.

S/Sgt Griffiths told the Oxford Mail, after arriving back at Dalton Barracks, in Abingdon, on Tuesday, that the hardest part was being away from her family. And she said she had been hurt by negative publicity she had received from some about her six-month tour.

She said: “Overall it was a good tour, but without a doubt the toughest thing was being away from my family.

“Last week I missed Nicole’s birthday and because there had been a bit of trouble we weren’t allowed to use our phones. It was hard not waking up early on the day and going to her room to give her a hug and a kiss.”

In July, the Oxford Mail reported that, following an attack by the Taliban, S/Sgt Griffiths told how she could only think of her daughter.

She and her colleagues were ambushed in May with a hail of bullets and rocket propelled grenades while on a mission delivering supplies to fortify an Afghan police checkpoint in Helmand Province.

The patrol got through the ambush and took cover before being aided by an International Security Assistance Force patrol. The following day they were hit by a Taliban bomb at a police checkpoint.

S/Sgt Griffiths said: “My heart was thumping with the adrenaline. All I could think about was my daughter back home.”

But she admitted that reading online criticism including claims that she was a “bad mother” for leaving her daughter at home – had cut deep.

She said: “There was a lot of press coverage, including comments from other females saying things like I was being selfish and a bad mother by not being at home.

“I spoke to Nicole on the phone and she told me I didn’t love her, but she got over that. Actually, I think she coped with it better than me.”

Her husband Simon, 36, a sergeant in 12 Logistic Support Regiment, said: “Obviously, we’re all delighted to have Claire back. It hasn’t been easy but we’ve stayed in regular contact with 30 minute phone calls each week as well as email.”

He said that apart from looking after Nicole and the family home he had been making sure he got deliveries of clothes Claire had ordered on the Internet.

He added: “Now I’m looking forward to the three of us relaxing together and having a trip to Paris to chill out.”