A Gurkha soldier - injured in an explosion which knocked him unconscious - has been awarded for bravery after dragging a colleague to safety.

Corporal Baljit Limbu, 32, of the Folkestone-based Royal Gurkha Rifles, has been given one of the oldest forms of gallantry - the Mentioned in Despatches.

It comes after he was hurled feet in the air after a massive explosion in Afghanistan and, despite being thrown so far he was facing the other direction, he dragged his colleague to safety and gave him emergency first aid in the battlefield.

His heroism started when he was a three-man patrol in June last year, on the last day of his six-month tour of the war-torn country.

Insurgents fired on his checkpoint and he was blasted metres away and knocked unconscious.

As he came round and the dust settled he realised that the last man in the patrol was barely conscious.

He said: "I remember a big bang, and I must have been thrown about 50 metres."

"I woke up facing the opposite direction we had been patrolling in, and a long way away from when I had been stood.

"There was still a lot of smoke so I couldn’t see anything to start with, but then I saw the last man in the patrol lying just five metres away from me."

"if you think back now, then yes it is kind of scary, but it’s not when you are there and your friend is lying down wounded" – cpl baljit limbu

Ignoring his own injuries, Baljit dragged the man - who had severe back injuries - to safety and started to give first aid.

Then, gathering a stretcher party, he led the group across 200 metres of flooded, boggy ground to the evacuation helicopter landing site.

Worse was to come, though, when the chopper came under fire.

Ignoring the attack, Baljit made sure the injured soldier was safely aboard before he fired back so the helicopter could take off.

Only after the fight was over did he mention his own injuries: blast wounds to his arm and neck, and partial deafness.

"As the second in command my job is to make sure they are extracted, it’s my duty no matter what happens, so my initial focus was the casualty.

"I don’t fear running around out there, my only concern was how can I save my friends?

"If you think back now, then yes it is kind of scary, but it’s not when you are there and your friend is lying down wounded."

Baljit was also injured at other times on the tour. He also damaged his back during a grenade attack, and is still receiving treatment in the UK to try and restore his vision after his check point was attacked in the final minutes of his tour as the soldiers waited for their replacements.

The announcement was made today with the release of the latest operational honours and awards list, which includes 131 personnel.

The awards are for actions roughly during the period April 1 to September 31 2011 during Operation HERRICK 14.