Video: on the front line | Video: Harry's job | Full text: interviewed in Afghanistan | Full text: interviewed before departure l Pictures: Harry in Helmand | Media blackout | 'Treated like the rest' | The farewell party | British monarchs who have served

Prince Harry’s deployment to Helmand was initially a shock for many of the men fighting alongside him. But he soon overcame the novelty factor with frontline banter.

Colleagues described the Prince as a “down-to-earth person” who expected to be treated the same as any other officer in the regiment.

Major Andy Dimmock, an artillery commander who is clearly proud to have the third in line to the throne under his command, said: “It doesn’t matter who you are, the novelty factor is huge. There aren’t many people can say they’ve seen a prince – never mind worked with a prince.”

However, once the soldiers got over the shock, the Prince became one of them, a regular member of the team.

“Obviously physically seeing him is a little bit of a surprise for some.

“With my younger guys, at first, obviously, there was the novelty factor. After a couple of days that’s got out of the way and he’s now part of the team, blending in – the banter’s there, everything is going really well.”

Many men working with Prince Harry were as unaware of his presence in Afghanistan as the public.

His identity remained a mystery to scores of pilots from various countries taking instructions from the Prince over the airwaves, where he was known by his call sign Widow Six Seven when he gave the go-ahead for airstrikes.

David Baxter, a battlefield air controller who found himself mentoring Prince Harry just two months into his tour of duty in Helmand, said: “He has always got a rapport with the pilots that he’s talking to. I’m sure they would be quite shocked as well if they knew who they were talking to.”

Corporal Baxter, 28, from Bendooragh in Northern Ireland, said that the Prince had been taken at face value although soldiers were initially surprised to see him.

Many were used to mixing with royalty as they were members of the Prince’s regiment, the Household Cavalry, where he trained with his brother, Prince William.

“At the end of the day he is just treated the same as any other officer from the regiment,” said Corporal Baxter. “A lot of people didn’t know he was coming out but he has fitted in really well.”

The Prince, who retrained as an air controller so he could be sent to Afghanistan, was praised by his colleagues for his work in conducting covert aerial surveillance of Taleban positions, coordinating planes and helicopters entering his area and calling in airstrikes.

Corporal Baxter said: “The first time he took over the net from his predecessor he was straight in there. He’s really confident and sounded like he had been there for quite a considerable amount of time.”

They were relaxed about his presence in Afghanistan, saying that it would be difficult for the warzone to get more dangerous, regardless of their high-profile colleague.

Major Dimmock, who serves as battery commander for various units including the Household Cavalry, played a key part in sending the Prince right to the front line.

“It is working better for us on that side because he has come in, we’ve got him established.”

He added: “There has been a lot of action and he’s doing exceedingly well.”

Many soldiers were happy for Harry, as the deployment made up for his disappointment in missing action in Iraq.

Corporal Baxter said: “For any soldier to be told that they can’t go on tour for whatever reason is quite disappointing and most people are actually just glad to see that he has been able to do the job that he trained to do.”

Harry spoke affectionately of his colleague, joking: “He fixed my radio for me so he’s a good guy to have on board despite being ginger and Irish. It’s a lethal mix.”

To keep Harry’s presence in Afghanistan under wraps, soldiers were warned to be discreet when they phoned home and told not to drop any hints to their families about their high-profile counterpart.

Major Dimmock said: “We are not giving any special treatment to him, it’s just a security risk because if it gets out that he’s here the indirect fire threat will increase.”

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Foxy Knoxy snared by her lust and her lies
• Britain is the land of the shrinking family
• Zac Goldsmith: Not such a green god