Surprisingly, he became used to temperatures of 50 degrees centigrade, the foot patrols with a 35 lb pack and basic facilities at camp Gibraltar where he lived with 150 other troops.

He even goes as far as to say it was the "most exciting" episode in his army career to date.

Read more of Cpl Morgan's experiences HERE.

A former pupil of St James's Primary School and Southam College, he joined the army eight years ago on the recommendation of a friend and since then "has not looked back".

He has served in Iraq four times, most recently for three months last year and before that was in Sierra Leone helping to train the county's army.

A military medic, Cpl Morgan volunteered to go to Afghanistan to assist the changeover of troops. He was due to spend six weeks out there, but ended up staying for three months.

After a month's medical training at main base Camp Bastion, he was flown to a camp in the volatile Upper Gereshk Valley, Helmand Province, and attached to the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment.

From the "holiday camp" environment of Bastion, Cpl Morgan said conditions at the remote base were like "going back to Iraq".

Generators powered the camp's electric lights, but food was cooked on open fires and the showers were solar powered.

With temperatures reaching into the 60s on some days and none of the air conditioning of Bastion, the threat of heat exhaustion was ever present.

But luckily Cpl Morgan said he "liked the heat" and acclimatised by going running in the sun.

Cpl Morgan's first mission with his platoon was to seize an old Russian fort from the Taliban.

When the troops arrived they discovered it had been abandoned, but on the way back one of their armoured vehicles ran over a mine.

Cpl Morgan said: "We were out on foot for a long time and everyone ran out of water. Luckily there was a doctor on hand to help the casualty and we made it back to the base OK."

During the first three weeks, the Taliban were quiet, due to the fact it was harvest time in the surrounding countryside.

Cpl Morgan said: "They didn't attack us because they get a lot of their money from the sale of the poppies for opium so want the farmers to carry on with the harvest.

"But on June 8, they told the locals to get out of the way as they were going to start attacking the Brits.

"And one of them told us as not all of them like the Taliban.
"That day was when we were first attacked by a couple of rocket-propelled grenades, which was a bit of a wake-up call."

Two days later, after a night-long patrol, Cpl Morgan and his platoon were targeted by a suicide bomber as they made their way back to the base through a field.

Cpl Morgan said: "When you're on patrol you stop people and make sure they are not carrying explosives, but this guy appeared alone and we were shouting at him to take his top off but he was acting like he couldn't understand.

"He was about 20 metres away and just put his head down and pulled a cord and blew himself up. There was this massive explosion and nobody could believe what had happened.

"He was there one minute then there was this huge cloud of smoke around us. I had all dust and debris on my arm.

"Two men at the front were hit by metal and another was injured rolling into a ditch.

"I dived over to him and pulled him up and treated him and he was sent back to Bastion."

After this shocking experience, it was just two days later that Pte Doherty was killed along with another soldier when their platoon were attacked by the Taliban.

On July 8 Cpl Morgan flew back to Britain and on July 11 nine paratroopers from his regiment were injured in a 'friendly fire' incident.

The soldiers had been locked in a close-quarter combat with Taliban fighters when in the confusion of battle a British helicopter turned its fire on their position.

Cpl Morgan said: "I couldn't believe it when I read it in the paper because you see all the people you know and I was quite gutted that I wasn't out there with them. "

According to Cpl Morgan the Taliban is a particularly elusive enemy due to the fact they can blend back into the community.

He said: "The Taliban are coming out to fight more. They seem happy to fire a rocket-propelled grenade and then run off, but they could be one of the locals so you can't tell. It's a really difficult situation to be in.

"Morale is good, some people may moan but at the end of the day you are in the army and that's your job.

"It's definitely the most exciting tour I have done. When you are out there you want to get home, but when you are back you miss it all."


The locals...

Cpl Morgan used his medical skills to treat those who would come to the base with serious injuries.

He said "Some are happy with us, but others don't want anything to do with you because if the Taliban see that they could be killed.

"Some of the farmers get fed up with us because we have to go through their fields and can't follow the same route all the time as it would set a pattern for the Taliban to follow."

The equipment

Soldiers carry around five litres of water and enough rations for 24 hours when on patrol as well as their rifles and other specialist equipment.

While Cpl Morgan thinks the majority of army regulation equipment is good, daysacks and boots could be improved.

He said: "Soldiers are having to buy their patrol sacks because army issued ones aren't suitable. They are not very comfortable and the straps aren't very good.

"On patrols you often make ditch crossings and the boots shrink when they dry out so soldiers are having to wear boots that are too small for them.

"If I went out to Afghanistan again I would spend around £200 on equipment."

A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said: "There are no requirements for soldiers to buy their own boots because they are issued with the best boots available in the market.

"There is no such thing as a perfect set of footwear that will fit everybody. The MoD makes provision for those service personnel who have recognised medical problems with standard footwear to be provided with an alternative sourced either from existing MoD contractors or from commercially available items."

Losses

More than 100 British troops have died in Afghanistan since the conflict began in 2001.

Last month Southam soldier Pte Jeff Doherty was killed in a firefight at the age of 20 and in Stratford last week hundreds turned out for the funeral of another 20-year-old soldier from the same regiment.

But despite a recent surge in British casualties, morale remains high as the battle to rid the country of insurgent Taliban fighters continues.

Reporter Holly Whitmill spoke to Cpl Tom Morgan, pictured, who has just returned from Afghanistan about his first-hand experiences of living and fighting in the war zone.