Heywood soldier receives Military Cross from Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace

Lance Corporal Stephen Shaw with his Military Cross

Lance Corporal Stephen Shaw, 24, from Heywood, was given the Military Cross - the third highest honour - after pulling a fellow soldier to safety after he had been shot in the leg.

Lance Corporal Shaw, of the Royal Army Medical Corps, collected his award from the Prince of Wales who told him: "Well done, it must have been a bad situation to get in."

The father of one said: "You do not really wake up as a soldier and expect to get to Buckingham Palace."

Lance Corporal Shaw, of the Royal Army Medical Corps, was given the Military Cross - the third highest honour - after pulling a fellow soldier to safety after he had been shot in the leg.

He said there is "not much" he remembers about the incident even though he has been told it lasted 40 or 50 minutes.

"Nothing went through my head. It was all instinct," he said. "I just knew that I had to get the casualties to triage and treat them while the rest of the team were doing their jobs."

Lance Corporal Shaw and Captain John Scarlett, from the Coldstream Guards, were in a patrol that came under fire after an apparent ambush at an Afghan police checkpoint in the Upper Gereshk Valley, Helmand province, in July last year.

As they were attacked by a gunman from a watchtower, three of their number were seriously wounded.

Capt Scarlett tried to rescue them but his rifle jammed, forcing him to use his pistol.

He was shot in the leg and body armour and was dragged to safety by Lance Corporal Shaw, who gave him life-saving medical treatment as well as later treating the other casualties.

Both men are awarded the Military Cross, given in recognition of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land.

After collecting his award, Lance Corporal Shaw said: "Today is a proud day but I was in a team in Afghanistan. If it was not for everyone doing their thing I would not be here. It is a team effort. I just see it as me doing my job."

Brigadier Douglas Chalmers, who collected the Distinguished Service Order at the same ceremony for services in Afghanistan, said: "The real joy of today was to actually be awarded my honour at the same time as those who served last summer, particularly some of the junior members of the brigade whose gallantry really was impressive."

Last year was the fourth time the brigadier had been to Helmand.

He said: "Most of the time we were able to control the circumstances but occasionally things happened that were unpredictable and caused people to do exceptional acts.

"These honours reflect on those occasions where people have to go above and beyond."