AN ARMY captain from North Yorkshire has been commended for helping and protecting wounded colleagues who had been shot by a rogue Afghan policeman.

Captain David Wiseman, of Tadcaster, was himself shot in the chest just two weeks after the incident last autumn in Afghanistan.

As The Press reported last December, a bullet went straight through his lung before lodging in his back, but passed between a major artery and nerve, missing them by a few millimetres.

An Army spokesman said yesterday the former Tadcaster Grammar School pupil had been awarded the Joint Commander’s Commendation in recognition of his service in Afghanistan.

He said on November 3, an Afghan policeman based at a police station in Shin Kalay opened fire on British soldiers as they rested within the compound following a patrol – killing five of them and injuring eight.

He said: “Captain Wiseman, who was serving with 2nd battalion the Yorkshire Regiment and had been in Afghanistan since September, was the first to respond with his seven-man team.”

Captain Wiseman said: “We arrived on the scene seven minutes later and we did our best to help the wounded while maintaining the security of the compound.

“We extracted the more seriously wounded by Chinook and the chaps who were less hurt were extracted by road when another team made it to the scene to help.

“We then held the police station from a number of attacks throughout the afternoon and into the night.”

The spokesman said he had now made a full recovery from his shooting injury, and was back at work with his battalion in Munster in Germany – and might even return to Afghanistan next year.

Capt Wiseman said: “I am proud of what we did in Afghanistan – it’s not about awards it’s about doing the job we were all sent there to do.

“The award should be seen as recognition for all the work my team did in Afghanistan – it is as much for them as it is for me.”