A WELSHPOOL soldier has received a medal in recognition of his service in Afghanistan.
Stuart Rondeau, 32, of Welshpool was awarded the Operation Herrick Medal at a special presentation at the home of Shrewsbury Town Football Club last Saturday.
Stuart was among a number of members of the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry who were being presented with the medals.
The ceremony was a follow up to a presentation at Clarence House last month when Stuart was initially presented with his medal by Prince Charles.
A member of the Territorial Army, Stuart was on tour in Afghanistan from May to December last year, during which he was lucky to escape serious injury when a bullet fragment struck his hand.
His role saw him acting as base surveillance operator and instructor at a number of British military bases across Afghanistan.
Stuart said he was delighted to have received the medal and is just happy to be back home.
He said: “It’s excellent, it’s a good achievement and it’s great to be back after that because it’s a long stint away from friends and family. It’s nice the way it is laid on for you, a great experience.
“We had Prince Charles and generals turning up to present the medals so it is not recognised just at a low level it is recognised all the way up to the top, which is quite special.”
Having previously toured Iraq Stuart found a massive contrast between the two countries saying: “For me it was actually a much more beautiful country, where I was in Iraq it was just flat whereas Afghanistan was lovely mountainous terrain and I found the people even more friendly.
"It was hotter as well, when I went to Iraq it was winter. In Afghanistan it was the most intense heat I have ever experienced. On patrol in 50 degrees is difficult!”
Stuart was lucky to escape serious injury when he suffered a wound to his hand on sangar duty at 1.30am.
He said: “I had some incoming fire into the base onto my sangar and it happened so fast, I have no idea if it was a bullet splintering on stone or a piece of stone splintering. I was holding some night vision goggles looking through them and it just hit my hand as soon as I heard it.
“I was very lucky, my first thought was to check and see if my fingers were still there.”
Stuart has now abandoned plans to join the army full time and is instead looking forward to marrying his fiance, Blessina Samuel, in September.