A SERVICEMAN is preparing for a car rally around Europe to support military charities and remember those killed in Afghanistan.

Benn Laidler, who is based at RNAS Yeovilton, is organising the week-long 'Rally for Heroes Race for Recognition 2012' which will see 50 cars and 100 drivers travel almost 3,000 miles from August 18 to 25.

The aim is to raise £100,000, to be split between forces charities Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion.

Warrant Officer Second Class Laidler, 35, will be racing his own TVR Tuscan through France, Italy and Germany, incorporating five miles for each service personnel who made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan.

Mr Laidler, who is part of the Army's Wildcat Fielding Team which works with Wildcat helicopters, said: "Since 2003 I have had three tours of Iraq and two tours of Afghanistan.

"I have lost close friends and I have eaten more dirt and prayed more in the past few years than I have ever in the rest of my life."

Mr Laidler was previously stationed in Germany for four years but moved to Yeovil with his wife Claire, two-year-old daughter Eloise and one-year-old son Ethan in May.

He is organising the rally with his friend Mick Clark, who organised the first one in 2010 and is still based in Germany.

Mr Laidler said: "When people are actively trying to kill or harm you, it puts a different slant on life.

"I signed up for that and I accept the fact. My wife knew this when we married, she may not like it, but she understands and supports me.

"But my children, like so many other service families, had no choice in the matter and they are the ones taking the biggest toll.

"I went to Kenya for three months when Eloise was one and when I came back she didn't recognise me."

Mr Laidler spent 18 months of his first two years in Germany on two tours of Iraq and one of Afghanistan.

He said: "I have had a few near misses. I'm not a front-line soldier but we had times in Iraq when we were taking heavy rocket attacks. One day we had 27 attacks in 24 hours. It wears you down.

"The guys out there now are fighting sometimes a foot away from people who want to kill them.

"I don't know if they consider themselves heroes but they are a level above half the society you see nowadays."

The first time the biannual rally event was held in 2010, organisers set a target of £10,000 but raised more than three times as much with £32,000 going towards Help for Heroes.

This time the bar has been raised and the participants hope to raise £100,000 through donations and sponsorship.

So far they have raised £25,000 – £500 of which was donated by Yeovil shoppers on Sunday, January 22.

Mr Laidler was joined at Morrisons supermarket, Lysander Road, by 12 other drivers who brought eight cars for the promotional event.

He said: "Yeovil as a whole has been brilliant. We had a lot of support from shoppers, the Royal British Legion and Vincents Motor Group which is giving us a couple of sports wagons to carry our kit.

"I would like to thank the Morrisons staff for all their support. They bent over backwards for us and been so generous."

Morrisons has invited the racers to come back one Sunday every month, starting on March 4. For more information visit www.rallyforheroes.co.uk or contact Mr Laidler on 07787 115544.