A HUDDERSFIELD soldier has been honoured for catching one of Afghanistan’s most prolific bomb makers.

And Cpl Steve Briddon has spoken exclusively to the Examiner about the moment he pulled the insurgent from a motorbike, tied himself to the suspect and escaped under fire.

The 30-year-old has been awarded a Joint Commanders Commendation for his bravery which led to a fall in the number of attacks on allied troops in Afghanistan.

The commendation is the highest honour before a medal.

The bomb maker would have made the kind Helmand Province device that killed bomb disposal expert Captain Lisa Head in April.

Cpl Briddon said: “He will have most definitely made devices such as those Lisa had to deal with. He was a facilitator, which means he had an in-depth expert knowledge of how to make and adapt devices in order to kill our troops and also teach low level insurgents how to lay and arm these devices.’’

Cpl Briddon from Shepley serves with the Royal Military Police and was attached to the 1st Bn the Royal Irish Regiment in the notorious Nad-E-Ali area of Helmand Province.

“It’s a very dangerous area in terms of the number of improvised explosive devices planted there,’’ he said.

He revealed that they had information on suspects they were after in an area of compounds known as The Garden.

As UK forces had not been into that area for some time they expected trouble ... and got it.

Cpl Briddon said: “We knew we were going to get shot at and they thought they would take the fire to us.’’

The troops set up a vehicle checkpoint and knew that insurgent commanders often zipped around the area on motorbikes.

They heard a motorbike coming quickly and Cpl Briddon and a sergeant hid behind a bush.

As the bike approached they stepped out and Cpl Briddon stood directly in front of the man, forcing him to screech to a halt.

Cpl Briddon grabbed him from the bike and down into a nearby drainage ditch.

As he did, nearby insurgents fired a volley of small arms fire with several bullets hitting a tree directly next to him – and Cpl Briddon immediately returned fire.

“I just don’t know how they didn’t hit me,’’ he said.

Down in the ditch he grabbed the man’s mobile phone and quickly checked it as the hail of fire continued. He found that the suspect had used his mobile phone to contact a known enemy commander and so immediately arrested him.

The battle raged around them and extra troops were drafted in so Cpl Briddon could escape with his prisoner.

“I tied him to me so he couldn’t get away and then we waited for darkness,’’ he said. “We then slipped away over fields for 4.5km and a helicopter flew the man to Camp Bastion.’’

The area where the man was arrested is so notorious for attacks, helicopters aren’t sent in unless in a dire medical emergency as they are in grave danger of being brought down.

Cpl Briddon received his citation on a scroll today.

It reads: “Cpl Britton’s actions captured a high-profile insurgent. With no regard to his personal safety and in the face of the enemy, Cpl Britton’s actions resulted in the capture and subsequent prosecution of the most significant bomb maker within the Nad-E-Ali area of operations.

“This caused significant disruption to the insurgents’ command and control structure and ability to construct IEDs in this region.’’

His commendation is especially poignant after the death of bomb disposal expert Capt Lisa Head in Nahr-e-Saraj..

ROYAL Military policeman Steve Briddon had some close shaves while out on patrol in Afghanistan.

He was the sole RMP officer with the troops serving on the frontline in the Nad-E-Ali area of Helmand Province.

At one point the soldier next to him was hit on the helmet by shot.

Miraculously he escaped unscathed as the bullet rebounded off the steel.

Cpl Briddon said: “When a shot is fired you hear a bang and a crack. The bang is the bullet and the crack is the air collapsing behind it.’’

The soldiers often came under fire from insurgents who often let off a few rounds and then fled in what are known as ‘shoot and scoot’ attacks.

The terrain was tough with the fields split into squares with large irrigation ditches running around them.

It was freezing at night with temperatures plummeting to -18°C and then rising to 15°C (60°F) during the day. The fields are deliberately flooded so crops with long roots could be harvested more easily.

“We were often covered in mud,’’ said Cpl Briddon. “And then at other times it was really dusty. But there were no lights so it was pitch black at night and when you looked into the sky you could see hundreds of stars.’’

He had gone to Afghanistan as part of the 716 Air Assault Brigade that includes troops from two parachute battalions along with Scots and Irish regiments.

There are only eight Royal Military Police officers in Afghanistan serving with the soldiers on the front line and he was the only one among 227 soldiers from the 1st Bn the Royal Irish Regiment who manned eight checkpoints in the region.

Cpl Briddon’s role on patrol was to advise other soldiers how to detain suspects, the importance of forensics and also use high technology that would take fingerprints, photographs and retinal scans of people. If they are on the database as wanted this would be flagged up immediately and arrested.

Cpl Briddon’s next posting is Portsmouth where he will be a weapons instructor at the Defence College of Policing.

Cpl Briddon lives with 24-year-old partner Fay Leslie in Shepley.

The former cadet joined the Army four years ago after being inspired by his grandfather, Donald Crosland, who served in World War Two and was involved in the D Day landings.

Before then he worked at Wheelsbrook Services car and commercial spares in Holmfirth.

His brother, 31-year-old Michael, is an engineer who lives in Holmfirth.

The family come from Holmfirth and Cpl Briddon was educated at Holmfirth Junior School and then Holmfirth High. His father, Robert, now lives in the Triphol area of central France and his mother, Angela, lives near Alicante in Spain.