I held my friend as he died of gunshot wound

He is just 22. But as a member of the armed forces serving Queen and country, Ben Jones has stared death straight in the face more than once.

Driven at by a suicide bomber and coming under fire from a Taliban marksman, today the senior aircraftman reveals his story of life on the frontline in Afghanistan.

Ben, of II Squadron Royal Air Force Regiment, recently completed his final tour of duty after suffering serious leg injuries on active service in Helmand Province.

He suffered a broken left thigh, dislocated knee and torn tendons during an attack near Camp Bastion on September 30.

Ben, who grew up in Willenhall, recalled how he was part of a foot patrol among a group of 14 personnel when the attacker, who was killed instantly in the blast, struck. He says he was among four servicemen to be injured.

"We had received a radio message to stop a suspicious car which had been spotted in the area," he says.

"Within seconds it came careering round the corner. We started to draw our weapons and to flag down the driver to stop, but he didn't.

"He just drove at straight at us and detonated the car, which was converted into an improvised explosive device – in effect a bomb on wheels.

"He was five metres in front of us. I was injured by the flying metal and debris. There was nothing left of the driver and only a small piece of metal remained of the white car afterwards.

"The lads with me sent for Apache helicopters which came and provided aerial protection and cover until the American medical team arrived on the scene to treat us. Planes were flown in to take us back to camp.

"I was taken to the operating theatre straight away to remove the bits of metal from my leg."

After five days at the camp hospital he was flown to Selly Oak Hospital, in Birmingham, where he stayed for four days at its specialist unit for injured military personnel.

He now wears a leg brace to aid rehabilitation and visits RAF Cosford weekly for physiotherapy. But this was not the first brush with death for the former St Thomas More RC School pupil, who grew up in Hobley Street, Shepwell Green.

While on his first tour of Afghanistan in February 2012 the aircraftman saw his good friend SAC Ryan Tomlin, aged 21, of Hertfordshire, shot dead by a Taliban marksman right in front of him.

They had been protecting a foot patrol in Dashte in central Helmand when they came under fire.

"Ryan got shot in the head. I was just behind him," he recalls.

"He died in my arms, but it all happened so quickly he didn't suffer. I was quite shaken up for quite a bit afterwards. It does bring home to you a sense of your own mortality.

"We stood in a guard of honour as his coffin draped in the Union Flag was put on a plane to be flown home."

But, despite facing death and suffering heartache since he joined up in 2010, he says he is proud to have served his country.

"I'm glad I went to Afghanistan," he says.

"I'm proud to have served Queen and country, but it's also been a great career move. It's been a life-changing experience for me."

Ben, who now lives in Cannock, tied the knot with wife Grace, a disability and mental health nurse also 22, while on a rest and recuperation on August 8, but had to return to duty four days later.

The couple are now due to go on a belated honeymoon to Lapland.

He is also due to take voluntary early release from the military in the new year and is looking forward to a fresh start. He is setting up a new handyman business, Green Tips Gardening.