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A Swindon soldier found himself marching into the history books when he stood guard at Buckingham Palace.

Sapper Phil Cozens (19) was one of 45 soldiers from 48 Field Squadron (Air Support), 39 Engineer Regiment who provided the Queen's Guard for the first time in the Regiment's history.

The preparations were intensive and included three full weeks of drill and kit preparation. Their ceremonial uniforms comprising of blue jackets, blue trousers with red stripe and peaked caps were all specially-tailored.

Sapper Cozens (19) from Park South, Swindon, said: "I've enjoyed doing the guard duty; it's nice to be able to say I stood guard at Buckingham Palace. I've had more photos taken of me in the last couple of weeks than I have in my entire life."

A former Headlands School pupil (now Swindon Academy) he continued: "I came to London on a school trip to see the Changing of the Guard. I never thought that one day I would be doing it."

Sapper Cozens joined the Army two years ago to learn a trade. "My mum was happy that I joined as long as I got a trade," he said. "So I did and I'm now a fitter in air conditioning and refrigeration." As a fitter, Sapper Cozens is trained to install, maintain and operate both military and civilian static refrigeration, ventilation and air conditioning equipment.

He continued: "It really was a privilege to take part. Each Guard Duty lasted two hours, but the time fly's by. You are allowed to change arms when your arm gets heavy from holding your weapon and you can march 15 paces either side of the sentry box. "

He continued: "We had to brush up on our drill. At the end of the day we are engineers not Guards, but the hard work paid off. It was nice to be able to take part, but now I'm looking forward to getting back in the field and using my engineering skills."

Sapper Phil Cozens

The last time the Corps of Royal Engineers performed Public Duties was 21-years ago during the Royal Engineers 200th Anniversary. The public duties included the Queen's Guard at both Buckingham and St James' Palace and the guards at the Tower of London and Windsor Castle. Security of the official residences has great historic importance for the British Army, dating back to King Charles II.

The Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Brent MBE said: "The Squadron was immensely proud to perform ceremonial duties. My soldiers worked extremely hard to reach the highest standard of turnout and drill.

"It was an experience of a lifetime. They returned from Afghanistan in January and after a period of leave began preparing for their ceremonial duties. This demonstrates the diversity of life in the Army and the professionalism and flexibility of our young soldiers. I am certain they will remember this period for a long time to come."

5:05pm Tuesday 6th May 2008

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