THE Tidworth Bowl was packed last week in scenes reminiscent of the old Tidworth Tattoo as 514 soldiers from 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery received their Afghanistan medals in front of a huge crowd of families and friends.

Prior to the parade, in a private ceremony, the regiment recognised the ultimate sacrifice made by soldiers on previous deployments.

Elizabeth Crosses were |presented to Mrs Jill Bayly (widow of Major John Sharpe who was killed in Aden in 1966 while commanding the Chestnut Troop) and Mrs Olivia Taylor (widow of Corporal Marc Taylor who was killed in Iraq in 2004).

After the soldiers marched on, there was a demonstration by the Royal Artillery Freefall Parachute Display Team, the Black Nights, who were led into the arena by Bombardier Kenny Everett from 1 RHA carrying the regimental flag.

This was followed by a musical drive by King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery with a ceremonial salute and then galloping off to the delight of the crowds.

Then the main event, the |presentation of medals, which was carried off with great aplomb by a series of senior officers and guests, led by General Sir Timothy Grenville-Chapman, the Master Gunner and a former Commanding Officer of 1 RHA.

The regiment then marched off to the applause of the guests and then the party began.

Families, friends and guests were entertained by a jazz band and, later in the evening, a rock band while the children enjoyed the steam-driven carousel, a huge Ferris wheel and other activities.

Summing up the day, Lance Bombardier Rhys Jones from B Battery said: “It was a hard tour, a good tour and I learned a lot. This has been a great day, good that the families could see what we do, everybody getting |together and talking about the tour, it was good.”

The regiment now go on a well earned four weeks block leave.

* AMONG those receiving her Afghanistan medal at the 1RHA parade was Corporal Sarah Marriott, a Combat Medical Technician with the Royal Army Medical Corps. Sara, 30, was a member of an Operational, Mentoring and Liason Team (OMLT colloquially known as an Omelette) which meant she trained and mentored Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers as well as going on patrol with them.

Sarah described one of these patrols when she had to put all of her medical skills to the test. “We were entering a compound and one of the young ANA soldiers went into the compound and was hit by an IED,” she said.

“The soldier beside him was knocked off his feet and I really felt the blast, it just rips through you. The soldier was dragged back to me, he had terrible wounds, I knew he would be an amputee but I did not realise just how bad it would be.”

“ When I saw him I thought ‘Oh, he had lost both legs above the knee, his right arm above the elbow and his left hand.

“The training kicked in and I started treating him, the new kit is great and I was able to get a line in and get fluids and antibiotics into him - he had lost huge amounts of blood - and give him |morphine for the pain. I got his mates to keep talking to him while I treated him, and I worked on him for about half an hour until the Pedro (US casevac helicopter) arrived. We were still in contact and I heard one RPG go over and land close nearby, but you are so focused on the job you just ignore them.”

After the soldier, Mohammed, who was just 18 and one of the young men Sarah had been teaching first aid to, had been evacuated, a mother and two children who had been injured by one of the RPGs were brought to Sarah for treatment. One little girl of about seven had lost a hand and Sarah treated her.

“I managed to keep the second casevac helicopter there and got the girls and their mother evacuated back to Camp Bastion where they received further treatment,” she explained.

The ANA soldier is still in hospital in Kabul and progressing as well as can be expected and has sent a message (courtesy of BBC Newsnight) saying thank you for the help he received.