Defence

As a Heavy Weapons Specialist - riding in the lead WMIK Land Rover during engagements - Cpl Thomson was always the first in and last out of a battle. He was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross in a ceremony last week for his repeated displays of exceptional bravery and leadership under fire. The medal is the second highest level of gallantry award after the Victoria and George Crosses.

Corporal Thompson was deployed to Afghanistan between October 2006 and April 2007.  One of the fiercest fights he was involved happened near Gereshk, when his patrol was ambushed.  He explains what happened:

"My call sign moved forward to draw fire from the rest of the company so the Commanding Officer could get the rest out. It was a four hour battle, and we assessed there were about 60 Taliban attacking us from all directions. Ten minutes into the fire-fight my ear drums blew due to the intensity of the machine gun fire, so for the rest of the battle I couldn't hear, my ears were bleeding, but we carried on fighting."

Corporal Thompson from 42 Commando Royal Marines was not solely involved in combat during his deployment:

"We patrolled areas looking for things we could do to help the local people, which included getting them clean water, tools for agriculture and also helping to bring western agricultural intelligence so they can change their poor wheat harvests into good ones.

"Only the minority of people don't want us there. The majority, children and farmers, would come out and see us. They are a really hospitable people and we would often sit and have cups of tea with them."

But as a heavy weapons specialist, the 29 year old Marine was always at the crux of any battle:

"One minute we'd be doing humanitarian work, winning hearts and minds, and then one minute we'd be in offensive action and really persecuting the Taliban. I could hammer the target with heavy machine guns, javelin missiles, grenade launchers and also request artillery bombs to be dropped.

"I don't think the Taliban are that fierce to be honest. We have superior fire power and air support, but the trouble with guerrilla warfare is you don't know who you're fighting or where they are, and they put a lot of heart into their fighting."

Meeting the Queen however was a very different experience for the Marine who has served in Northern Ireland, Iraq and now three times in Afghanistan:

"It was massive shock to be given this award, and it feels great. It's an absolute honour to meet the Queen and to physically touch her and shake her hand, it's top of the pops. My heart was thumping, I was absolutely nervous and anyone who knows me, knows that I don't get nervous.

"But I'm just one bloke who got a medal. Everyone else put in just as much as I did. Our drills were superb and the mix with our forces worked really well. We could switch from getting food to people and then fighting straight away."

Corporal Thompson has been a Marine for ten years. He served in Iraq on Operation Telic 1 and got a mention in dispatches for his work there, which he said he thought was the pinnacle of his career, until this deployment to Afghanistan:

"This tour has been the B******. Every bit of my job has been covered, we worked hard and everything went right, with minimal casualties and most of us came back relatively unharmed, which is the most important thing."