After six months on the front line in Afghanistan a young soldier is back home with his proud family.

Alwyn Goatham, 20, whose parents live in Upland Way in Epsom, is a private in C Company, 1st Battalion of the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment and was stationed in a sparsely populated part of Helmand province.

He said: "Getting on the plane was pure excitement. Everyone was just so happy as we hadn’t been home for such a long time. It was great that we knew we would be seeing our family and friends.

"It was a great welcome home. I had an inkling they might put the banner up as they did the same for my brother, but I wasn’t expecting it all.

"Sometimes we would have the internet so I would send my family messages on Facebook, you can write letters and speak on the phone, but I didn’t like to have that much contact to make it easier for myself.

"It’s easier to concentrate on the task at hand rather than worrying about what’s happening at home.

"My mates were getting injured out there so it’s quite hard to talk to anyone else about that."

He was in the same company as father-of-two Corporal Jay Baldwin, 26, from Crawley, who lost both of his legs in a bomb blast at the start of the year while on foot patrol.

He said: "Jay has remained really positive, he has not changed and is still who he was, so that has helped.

"You can’t really talk to people about normal things when you have that in the back of your mind. Other people can’t relate to it.

"For me personally, from previous situations where other people have been hurt or killed, you grieve and then you have to get over it and carry on.

"You do become close to the other soldiers, just because you’re all stuck in the same situation. Everyone has petty arguments in that confined a space but you forget about them."

Much of his work was helping to prepare the Afghan National Army to take full control of the area.

He said: "On certain patrols we had to go out and find the Taliban and get them to shoot at us so we could take them out.

"We went out on patrols with the Afghan National Army to help hand over control to them. Sometimes they would be willing to work with you and sometimes they would be quite stubborn which was annoying at times as we are doing this for them and they didn’t seem to want it.

"The first contact we had was so surreal.

"It was weird that it actually happened. To start with you are scared, then you realise what’s going on and your training kicks in. You don’t worry about it, you just have to get on with it and do what you’re expected to do."

A former student at Glyn Technology School, Pte Goatham joined the army aged 17 and trained for a year at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate.

He was then sent to the regiment’s training base in Germany before going to Afghanistan.

He was following in the footsteps of his brother Ashley, 23, who was in the same regiment and also served in Afghanistan from 2008-9.

Their grandfather was a sergeant in the Army and his mother’s brother-in-law and sister also served.

Pte Goatham said: "It was what I wanted to do. I thought it would be a good chance to travel, which I have managed to do, and quite a lot of my family has been in the Army and I wanted to carry that on.

"There are good and bad things about being out in Afghanistan. It has opened my eyes to the world. It is the real world."

After six months in the war-torn country he is not hopeful that the peace they worked so hard to bring will survive after the last soldiers come home.

"My opinion is that we are trying to make a difference and it is working in some areas.

"But as soon as we go from Afghanistan it will go down the drain - there will be lots of fighting and other soldiers believe that.

"The armed forces out there are making a slight difference, but it will eventually count for nothing.

"I am happy that I have gone out there and have done my part to try to make that country better."

Despite this he is keen to get back out there again.

He said: "Growing up, Afghanistan was always in the news. I knew I wanted to join the army and Afghanistan was somewhere I wanted to go.

"Next up I want to start training as a lance corporal in Wales and then go back to Afghanistan as lance corporal.

"I want to work my way up the Army and can see myself doing this for a good few years."

But for now, Alwyn is happy relaxing at home on a month's post-tour leave.

He said: "I will be quite happy to do a grand total of nothing really.

"It is a bit weird being back as it’s just a massive change in environment. It’s good to know that you can sit down and relax.

" When you’re out there you can’t properly relax because of the environment you’re in.

"We had a welfare room in Afghanistan with a tv and you could watch DVDs or play on the Nintendo to relax. Sleep was usually the best thing to do.

"I wanted to get back home, but I wasn’t desperate for it. You miss the little things like home-cooked meals, having a proper shower and bed.

"I know the whole family is proud of me."