Mark's Story

'I was very pleased with the settlement, I keep 100% of it. The MOD had to pay all the costs.'

'I was taking part on a "medicine man" exercise in Canada in a Main Battle Tank (MBT). Somehow we ended up 1,000 metres in front of the others which put us in a danger area. We needed to get back at least 1 kilometre.

'The MBT does a speed of 55 miles per hour going forwards and has a reverse speed of 35-40 miles per hour and this is a 70-tonne tank. It was going over solid ground and that enabled it to travel at top speed.

'At the time of reversing, I still had the shell in my hand. I was struggling to keep my feet. I had a leather strap above me which was useless whilst I had the shell in my hand. I was rocked around. It got to the stage where I put the round back into the rack.

'After that came the impact.

'We were inside a dark vehicle and I was thrown to the back wall of the turret. I don't remember being pulled out. A tracked ambulance came to our assistance.

'The injury that I have is a muscular injury. There has, in effect, been wastage of the muscle which may be addressed by surgery. I can't lift anything. The wastage is inside the joint and my shoulder has dropped about an inch.

'I used to play and coach rugby but have had to give it up.

'The MOD denied liability and we had to go to trial. The court decided the issue of fault as a separate matter. Nobody knew then whether or not I could stay in the Army with my injury.

'I never thought I would be in a situation where I would have to take the Army to court. They just wouldn't accept that the officer commanding my tank had made such a fundamental mistake. I was forced to prove that in court and I am just grateful that I had Andrew McDonald of Thompsons, on my side to bring the Army to account and secure proper compensation for me so I could get on and start a new life.

'I was very pleased with the settlement, I keep 100% of it. The MOD had to pay all the costs.'

Mark Waldman

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