The mother of a 19-year-old service-woman killed in Iraq yesterday condemned the Ministry of Defence for letting 15 freed sailors and Marines profit from media interviews.

Sally Veck told The Times: “If you are a member of the military, it is your duty to serve your country. You should do your duty and not expect to make money by selling stories.”

Her daughter, Eleanor Dlugosz, a medic, was one of four British colleagues killed with their interpreter when a roadside bomb destroyed their Warrior Armoured Vehicle in Basra last Thursday.

Her mother joined veterans and opposition MPs criticising Defence Secretary Des Browne’s unusual decision to let the Iranian detainees sell their stories.

Leading Seaman Faye Turney, the only woman captive, was reported to have been offered an estimated £100,000 for interviews today with The Sun and Tonight with Trevor McDonald. Some detainees have said they will give money to charity.

She said in the interview that she feared she was being measured for a coffin and that, while in isolation, she had been told by her captors that the other sailors and Marines had been returned to Britain.

Leading Seaman Turney defended the decision of the captives to sell their story, saying: “I want people to know the truth about what I’ve gone through, how I dealt with the situation and why.”

Earlier Ms Veck had said that it “would be a terrible shame” if any of the freed British personnel decided to sell their stories.

“I would be very shocked if any of them do,” she said.

“Eleanor was very, very proud of the work she was doing in Iraq and she did it purely because she wanted to help people and make a difference, not for money. She was gutted when she joined the Army because, being a girl, she was not allowed to join the infantry on the front line, which is exactly what she really wanted to do.”

The medic’s family invited the News of the World, The Mail on Sunday and a local reporter into their home near Southampton on Saturday to talk about her. Never did the possibility of selling their story arise. Close to tears, Ms Veck said: “We are all devastated by Eleanor’s death. I feel that it has been very important for me to speak to the press and to tell everyone in the world how wonderful Eleanor was. But I would never want any money.”

Chris Air, a Royal Marine captain freed by Iran, said that although he did not plan to sell his story he felt that his comrades were entitled to — particularly if it helped them to deal with any trauma.

Felix Carman, a Royal Navy lieutenant who was also a captive, said that he would give any money made from his story to charity. He has given a complimentary interview which will appear today in his local South Wales Evening Post.

Leading Seaman Turney revealed in The Sun that when their boat was captured on the Shatt al-Arab waterway the Iranians were shocked to find a woman aboard. Close to tears she then asked Captain Air in a whisper whether they were going to rape her. “There was a look of total disbelief and they kept staring at me and repeating ‘woman, woman’ ”.

Shortly after being taken captive she said that she was separated from her colleagues for five days, blindfolded, thrown into a small cell and ordered to strip to her knickers.

One morning she heard wood being sawn and nails being hammered. Afterwards a woman came into her cell and measured her. Leading Seaman Turney said: “She shouted the measurements to a man outside. I was convinced they were making my coffin.”

She said that each night she was interrogated during which she played the “dumb blonde” when asked about Royal Navy manoeuvres in the Gulf.

On the fifth day two different interrogators offered her the chance to “confess” to being in Iranian waters in return for being home within two weeks. Otherwise she would be put on trial for espionage. She said: “It was a horrible dilemma. If I did it I feared everyone in Britain would hate me. But I knew it was my one chance of fulfilling a promise to Molly \ that I’d be home for her birthday on May 8.” She later wrote two letters.

Arthur Batchelor, 20, the youngest captive, told The Mirror the Iranians had tried to persuade him that he was responsible for what was happening because he was the boat’s navigator. “It was beyond terrifying. They seemed to take particular pleasure in mocking me for being young.” He said they had called him Mr Bean in an attempt to make him “feel like a fool, hoping that I would give away secrets to prove that I wasn’t”.

Last night a new video of the captured British crew was aired on Iranian television, with the footage showing the sailors chatting and playing table tennis. A voice-over said: “the sailors had complete liberty during their detention, which contradicts what the sailors declared after they arrived in Britain”.

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