Trooper Oliver Williams has been involved in a roadside bombing and seen good friends killed while serving in Afghanistan – but this weekend the 19-year-old will be back with his loved ones in Shrewsbury.
Oliver, of Copthorne, is a member of the Household Cavalry Regiment and has been based in the north west of the country for the past seven months. 
The former Meole Brace School pupil said he was happy to be coming home after fulfilling a ‘lifelong ambition’ of being part of the army – but has recounted tales of some of the horrifying sights he has witnessed while serving on the front line.
“It has been an eventful seven months,” he said. “The best thing about it has been the friends you meet while the worst has got to be being away from home and seeing your mates get killed.
“Within a week of being out there I got blown way by a road side bomb, but fortunately escaped without injury. Unfortunately, one of my colleagues lost both legs. And recently one of my good mates died out there.
“I have always wanted to be in the army, but will be glad to have four weeks off with friends and family in Shrewsbury.”
He returned to the country last week and has been staying at the regiment’s base in Windsor.
Linda Williams, Oliver’s mother, said: “It will be great to have Oliver home. It has been some experience for him being in Afghanistan in which he has seen many things.”
In 2008, the former army cadet based at Copthorne Barracks, took part in a 30-man expedition covering 8,000 miles across Southern Africa.
The expedition took Oliver and his team on a route from the battlefield at Rorkes Drift in South Africa, as seen in the film Zulu, through the Okavango Delta in Botswana and on to the Skeleton Coast and mountainous red sand dunes of Namibia.
The journey culminated with three weeks hard work alongside Sentebale charity workers, which was set up by Prince Harry to provide care for vulnerable children in Lesotho.
By James Pugh