TROOPS from Woodbridge base are to receive their medals after returning from six months in Afghanistan. Members of the 23 Engineer Regiment (Air Assault) will take part in the medals parade on Friday at Rock Barracks.

Richard Cornwell

TROOPS from Woodbridge base are to receive their medals after returning from six months in Afghanistan.

Members of the 23 Engineer Regiment (Air Assault) will take part in the medals parade on Friday at Rock Barracks.

Medals will be presented by Maj Gen Keith Cima, governor of the Tower of London.

The ceremony will be followed by the opening of a Garden of Reflection and the unveiling of a bust of Lt Col John Rock by Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Dave Wilson, Maj Gen Cima, the padre and Arnhem veterans L/Sgt Harold Padfield, Lt Col John Humphries and glider pilot Harold Lansdell.

Lt Col John Rock, of the Royal Engineers, was the man chosen to deliver Winston Churchill's dream of a “corps of at least 5,000 paratroops” and is considered the founder of Airborne Forces.

A sapper from the outset, he was not only the first parachute soldier but also the first glider soldier.

Soldiers from 23 Engineer Regiment (Air Assault) are 16 Air Assault Brigade's engineering and infrastructure specialists and were key in preparing and clearing the route for delivery of the Kajaki Dam Turbine in Helmand province.

They also managed all the reconstruction and development projects in the Southern Afghan province.

About 360 service personnel will be on parade and some 600 plus friends, families and guests are expected to attend the day's events.

The activities will conclude with a marching display by the Band of the Corps of Royal Engineers.