An Army officer who trained with Prince William told today of his lucky escape when a rocket-propelled grenade bounced off him before exploding during combat in Afghanistan.

Lieutenant David Robertson, 30, was hit in the chest by the missile, which was fired by a member of the Taleban. It ricocheted off his body armour and exploded against his vehicle, leaving him with nothing more than minor wounds to his arm.

The soldier described how he and colleagues from 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (The Highlanders), came under fire from rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) on Saturday, as the company and 1,000 Afghan National Army soldiers headed towards a Taliban position in the lawless countryside around Musa Qala in Helmand province.

Lieutenant Robertson, a vehicle commander serving with Helmand Task Force, Warrior Company, was standing with the top half of his body out of a turret as he directed operations.

Lieutenant Robertson said: "We were advancing on an old graveyard, up on some high ground. There were some trees after a small village . . . as I crested the last hill before the trees, several RPGs were fired at us. I just saw this one coming head-on. I didn't get my life flashing in front of me but it did slow down. The thing split into three parts coming towards me, hitting me and bouncing off and detonating."

He added: "I was knocked backwards, I hit the back of the turret pretty hard. I remember a big bang and a heatwave and then felt burning in my arm and side. I radioed back to report what had happened and then we started to extract some of the Afghan National Army (ANA) casualties who had been injured.

“One of my lads took a look at my arm which was stinging and felt hot and sore, he whacked a dressing on it and we carried on. We went forward again with the wagon and brought back another ANA casualty and then supported with fire support. In the end an air strike was called in.

“The MERT (Medical Emergency Response Team) extracted me and three Afghan casualties. At the time I was just cheesed off that I was being extracted. That night I was just constantly replaying it and thinking how incredibly lucky we were.”

He added: "There was shrapnel embedded all around us. I just want to get back out and join the lads.”

The soldier, who has a girlfriend from Cardiff, has been in Afghanistan since February and will finish his tour in August.

Whilst at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy, Lieutenant Robertson hit Prince William with a potato during riot training. He received the Queen's Medal when he and and the Prince passed out in December 2006. The award is made to the officer cadet who achieves the best scores in military, practical and academic studies.

Lieutenant Robertson, from Inverness, is an Infantry Platoon Commander based in Fallingbostel in northern Germany.

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