A GREAT Yarmouth soldier has been presented with his long service and good conduct medal by the Duke of York at a special ceremony in Germany.Engineer Sergeant Mark Sexton, 34, attached to Germany based 9/12 Lancers, who joined the Army in 1993, received his medal in recognition of his exemplary service.

A GREAT Yarmouth soldier has been presented with his long service and good conduct medal by the Duke of York at a special ceremony in Germany.

Engineer Sergeant Mark Sexton, 34, attached to Germany based 9/12 Lancers, who joined the Army in 1993, received his medal in recognition of his exemplary service. The Duke, who is Royal Colonel-in-Chief of 9/12 Lancers was in Germany visiting his regiment while it undertook vital training for future deployment to Afghanistan.

Former Cliff Park High School student Mark has served in Kenya and taken thee tours in Iraq, including the invasion of the country in 2003 where he maintained Challenger tanks weapons systems.

Married to Donna-Marie, 33, he has four children - Jade, 15, Jamie-Lee, 14, Courtney, 12 and Ethan, 10.

Mark said: “It is a great honour to receive my long service and good conduct medal and receiving it from the Duke of York is extra special. One of the highlights of my career was undoubtedly my first tour in Iraq. It was hard - but it was the first chance I had of working with the tanks on operations - to put them through their paces in the job they are designed to do.”