A CHORLEY soldier went back to school and helped leave a lasting memory on children thousands of miles away.

Sapper corporal Stephen Thorne spent three months in Kenya where he worked on projects to bring water to a school and ranch and build dormitories and a kitchen for the pupils.

Stephen, aged 28, was in a party of 135 soldiers from Wiltshire-based 6, Headquarters Squadron, 22 Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers.

"It was hard work, but fun," said Stephen, a former pupil of Rivington and Blackrod High School, whose parents Harold and Ann Thorne still live in the area.

"We had to cope with temperatures of 43 degrees, thousands of mosquitoes and all sorts of insects and animals.

"We bought ourselves beds made by a local carpenter so that we would be well off the ground and away from snakes and things that were everywhere because of the floods.

"The headmaster was very pleased with the school. He is very excited and so are the kids. They practised for weeks to give us a concert to thank us for all that we had done for them - it was a great feeling."

When the army lads flew out in January to start the projects they found they had to contend with the devastating effects of 40 inches of unseasonable rain.

They helped rebuild a huge section of bridge which had been swept away by torrential floods, leaving hundreds of villages cut off.

"My wife June gave birth to a second son, Ryan, on December 5, just five days before I came out, but I was sent lots of photographs - I missed the baby a lot, " said Stephen.

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