A FORMER Blaenau Gwent soldier who fought for the British Army during the troubles in Northern Ireland has published a book about his experiences.

Haydn Davies, 76, from Tredegar, was a regular soldier for 26 years and served in the Far East, the Middle East and North West Europe.

A soldier with the 14th regiment of the South Wales Borderers, Mr Davies served on a number of short tours Northern Ireland over a seven-year period between 1969 and 1983.

As well as being stationed in Belfast and Derry, he was also part of countryside tours of Fermanagh and north and south Armagh.

A member of the Prince of Wales Division, Mr Davies also had a two-year attachment to the 2nd Battalion of The Ulster Defence Regiment.

Over the period of the conflict, more than one 1,300 British soldiers died, which is the equivalent of two infantry battalions. Eighteen of those soldiers were Mr Davies’ friends or colleagues.

Mr Davies has used incidents, rather than chronological order, for each chapter of his 154-page book, Northern Ireland – Tragedy, Grief and Humour, which was published by JWB last month.

Speaking about the book, Mr Davies, now based in Somerset, said: “I did a timescale and it only seems like yesterday.

“It was horrific in hard areas…there was quite a mixture. The soldiers really did their job. You just got stuck in.

“Lots of people had it far worse time than me.

“If you meet another soldier of the time, you can’t stop them talking. You need three weeks for that part.

“My ambition is to go back there and meet some of the people I knew and a few of the soldiers I worked with.”

Publisher James Bancroft added: "The book has no political agenda.

“He was a soldier before the violence erupted in Northern Ireland and he simply went there to do the job he was told to do.

“If it had not been him, it would just have been another man in the same uniform doing what he did."

Northern Ireland: Tragedy, Grief and Humour is now available at: www.jwbancroft.com/product/northern-ireland-tragedy-grief-and-humour.