A soldier from Tenby is keeping Apache attack helicopters flying on a major exercise in southern Germany.

Lance Corporal Matt Davies of 3 Regiment Army Air Corps (3 Regt AAC), is on Exercise Swift Response, the largest exercise for NATO’s rapid reaction forces in Europe since the end of the Cold War.

Some 4,800 soldiers from 11 countries are training together to improve their ability to operate together in response to international crises.

Lance Corporal Davies, a former pupil of Tenby’s Greenhill School, has been in the Army for ten years and deployed on five tours of Afghanistan with 3 Regt AAC. He plays at inside centre for the Army Air Corps rugby team.

His regiment, based at Wattisham Flying Station in Suffolk, is in command of 12 helicopters on the exercise.

During the training, Lance Corporal Davies, aged 28, has been working at a Forward Arming and Refuelling Point (FARP) - the military equivalent of a Formula 1 pit stop – to maintain the Apaches.

He said: “Our job as groundcrew is basically to ensure the aircraft is ready and safe to take off on its missions, so we marshal the aircraft on the ground, load the weaponry and refuel it. On this exercise we’re doing some real back to basics soldiering, while operating a very sophisticated aircraft and working alongside Italian and American soldiers, which has been interesting.

“I’ve been working on the Apache since it came into service and it’s a fantastic aircraft.

“In Afghanistan, the Apache won a lot of contacts and saved soldiers’ lives, and I feel a sense of pride knowing that I played my part in that.”