Operation Bastion Baby! Five soldiers fly boy born on Afghan army base to his grandmother in FIJI... so his mother can keep on fighting Little Emmanuel Pearce was born to Lance Bombardier Lynette Pearce Lance Bombardier Pearce was flown back to Britain with her baby Her mother Sugar flew to Britain from her home in Fiji to help her The grandmother has now flown back to Fiji with baby Emmanuel She was escorted on her 26-hour flight by five Fijian soldiers Every time the baby cried the soldiers said 'we'll take care of him' All of the five soldiers had volunteered to help a 'fellow Fijian' By Simon Parry It must count as one of the British Army's most unusual operations of recent times. Five soldiers, including an SAS officer, stood guard over a six-month-old baby boy on a 10,000-mile flight from London to the South Pacific. Little Emmanuel Pearce was born to Lance Bombardier Lynette Pearce as she served in Afghanistan, and his destination was Fiji, where he was going to stay with his grandparents as his mother prepares to return to the front line. The infant made headlines worldwide when he arrived five weeks premature in a field hospital at Camp Bastion last September, becoming the first baby born on a British Army front line. Proud grandmother: Sugar Pearce holds her six-month-old grandson Emmanuel at her home in Fiji His 28-year-old Fijian mother had not realised she was pregnant and has kept the father's identity a secret, leaving a blank space for his name on her son's birth certificate. After the birth, Lance Bombardier Pearce was flown back to Britain with her baby and then took six months' maternity leave. She has been helped by her mother Sugar, who flew to Britain from her home in Fiji in November to care for her first grandchild. Unexpected: Lance Bombardier Lynette Pearce did not know she was pregnant Now Lynette - who serves with the Royal Artillery - has reported back for duty and has been posted to Germany, where she is on standby to fly back to Afghanistan for a second tour of duty. Meanwhile, five of her Fijian comrades laid on a military escort to accompany grandmother Sugar on her 26-hour Korean Air flight home earlier this month with baby Emmanuel. Describing her journey at her home in the town of Nandi yesterday, Sugar, 49, said: 'I was about to check in when this soldier asked, 'Is this baby Pearce?' 'I said, 'Yes' and then five of them then introduced themselves and said, 'We're here to look after the baby on the flight' and took Emmanuel off me. One of them was an SAS officer and the other four were regular soldiers. They whisked us through the check-in and came to Fiji with us. 'Every time Emmanuel cried, they would say, 'We'll take care of him.' I appreciated it as it was a very long flight. Lynette's father Maurice, a senior police officer, said the soldiers were Fijians serving with the British Army who agreed to co-ordinate their period of leave so that Emmanuel could be given an unofficial military escort to Fiji. 'The SAS officer was returning for his father's funeral,' he explained. They all volunteered because they wanted to help a fellow Fijian. Special: Baby Emmanuel's British passport shows he was born at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan Baby Emmanuel - holder of a unique British citizen passport giving Camp Bastion as his place of birth - will stay with his grandparents for three months before returning to Britain. Lynette, who emigrated from Fiji to join the Army in 2009, has been living with Emmanuel in a single mother's quarters on an Army base at Thorney Island, Chichester, West Sussex, and is determined to continue her career. 'She is advertising for a nanny to look after Emmanuel while she is back at work,' said Sugar. 'While I was staying with her I said, 'Why don't I just take the baby to Fiji to meet all his family and you can find someone to look after him in the meantime?' Lynette misses him so much. She phones every day and I tell her, 'It's too expensive for you to call morning and afternoon.' She adores him. You should see them together. He is a very easy baby. I suppose because he was born in a war-torn country, he just sleeps through noise. Military escort: Emmanuel Pearce and his grandmother Sugar were joined on their flight home by five soldiers Sugar added: 'Lynette is determined to stay on in the Army. When I asked her to come home, she said, 'No, Mum, I live for the Army.' Lynette has told her family that Emmanuel's father is a fellow Fijian soldier in the British Army, but says he has not been in touch since the birth and Lynette has so far declined to tell her any more about him. Unique: The baby was born in September at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan 'It's still a mystery to me,' Sugar said. When I wanted to discuss it with her, she said, "Mum, it is water under the bridge. Wait until he calls up, then I'll tell you more. But there have been no calls from him. Lynette was posted to Germany after Emmanuel left Britain with his grandmother and she is due to fly to Canada for training ahead of a return to Afghanistan at the end of the year on what is expected to be one of the Army's last tours of duty there. Her younger brother Izadore, 24, who also serves in the British Army, is already in Canada preparing for the same deployment. Three days ago, however, Lynette - who has represented Fiji at women's football - injured her knee in a match and her transfer to Canada has now been delayed. Maurice, 49, said he was not worried at the prospect of her being on the front line. 'We always trust in God,' he said. We believe that God is going to be our source of strength and our protector and provider. If it is part of her employment to go back to Afghanistan, she will go. Once she is fit, she can return. Emmanuel, who weighs a healthy 16lbs, has put on 5lbs since arriving in Fiji three weeks ago and has been a huge hit with his extended family on the South Pacific island. 'The visits have just gone on and on,' beamed Sugar. People have brought so many things for him. Cradling his grandson, burly Maurice added: 'Emmanuel is home right now. I am so happy to have him here. He is a bundle of joy, and he is the joy of our lives.