SERVING soldiers Tom and Jack Appleton are flying the Cherries flag in Afghanistan thanks to the club and the Daily Echo.

The Bournemouth brothers, former pupils at Portchester School , are on duty in Helmand Province.

Jack wrote to the Echo in May and the paper joined forces with the football club to send the brothers some signed Cherries shirts.

Jack told the Echo: “Like Tom, I am also a massive AFC Bournemouth fan and go to as many games as possible.

“At this moment in time, both Tom and I are in Afghanistan. Tom has returned for the third time and I am on my first tour.

“On this tour, we are flying the Desert Hawk 3 system, which requires us to be sent across Helmand Province, so we are not co-located.

“This is an extremely hard time for my parents as they have both their sons in Afghanistan at the moment.

“We would both like to thank the Daily Echo and AFC Bournemouth for sending us these shirts.

“They have been a great morale-boost and always help remind us both of home.

“We’re both looking forward to getting home in November so we can attend some more Bournemouth games.”