THE moment Mark Coreth nearly became one of the casualties of the Falklands War is as vivid to him now as it was 40 years ago in the seconds after his tank was blown up by a mine.

It was the night of Jun 13 and the 23-year-old captain in the Blues and Royals was in a Scorpion leading a diversionary attack to help the Scots Guards take Mount Tumbledown under heavy artillery fire.

His small troop had gone from “racing around Salisbury Plain having fun” to all-out war. The sights, sounds and smells as well as the adrenaline, were intense.

Mark, who now lives in Tisbury, had a premonition that he was going to get into trouble and might not be going home.

Artillery was coming down on his position on all sides. As the Scorpion made its way forward he saw a hole in the middle of the road. He decided to go around and the next thing he knew the vehicle was in the air and coming down with a crash.

“I was thinking ‘OK, this is it’.” But as the wreckage settled he realised both he and his two crew members were still alive and relatively unscathed, although he felt as if he’d drunk a couple of bottles of whisky at once. “I had the most extraordinary feeling of elation because I realised that was the moment the premonition was all about and I had survived it.”

It was just one of many life changing experiences. “I have immense respect for the soldiers who were under my command. We were all in it together,” he said.

At one point the day after the attack on the Sir Galahad, when they were position in a quarry, one of the youngest soldiers, a gunner of just 18, a gunner leapt onto the turret and began firing at Argentine two Sky Hawks. One was shot down. “There were no fire orders, he just knew that he had to do something,” said Mark.

He is full of praise for the courage, attitude and humour of his comrades. One of his fondest memories is of hearing them sing Always Look on the Bright Side of Life from the Life of Brian, over the troop radio net to cheer each other up.

Two days after the Tumbledown diversionary attack, he was waiting by the wreckage of his vehicle for a helicopter to recover it. Engineers arrived to try to clear the minefield, bringing with them an Argentinian captain. They shook hands.

“I was eye to eye with the man who laid the minefield and it was only luck that I was still there,” he said. “I just took him by the hand and said ‘Thank God we both got away with it’.”

Mark, who was awarded a Mention in Dispatches, remained in the military for 11 years before shifting his focus to art. Brought up in East Africa, he has always been fascinated by wildlife and it features widely in his sculptures, which are exhibited in London. He is also a strong supporter of the Royal British Legion and took part in its Falklands 40 Commemorative event at the National Arboretum this week.