A Bradford Royal Marine Corporal, home from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, has spoken to the Telegraph & Argus about his experiences on the front line – and how TV actor Ross Kemp coped when he joined the commando on patrol.

Corporal John Dolecki, 30, who grew up in Clayton, has been a Marine for ten years and has fought in Sierra Leone, Iraq, Northern Ireland and most recently Afghanistan.

The former Thornton secondary school student said life with 42 Commando can be very hard at times.

And he said he worried because his family back home worried about him on the front line.

He said: “It’s always tough when you go away and that is why every marine has to be top standard.

“Some moments are really tough, like when you are deprived of sleep, food and water.

“When you are in Iraq or Afghanistan the fighting never stops – when you feel tired the bullets are still coming and the bombs are still going off. You cannot relax.

“I’ve been shot at, fired at, targeted by suicide bombers – marines are in life-threatening situations every day.”

As a commander, Cpl Dolecki is in charge of a patrol of men.

He said he had lost friends on the battlefield.

“You always lose someone, you lose a few,” he said.

“It would be nice to bring everyone back, but it is the nature of the beast.

“It is especially hard because it’s your mates.”

Cpl Dolecki has a son and daughter who live with their mother in Bradford, and a girlfriend in Plymouth where he now lives.

He said: “It is really hard to be away from my family and it isn’t something I get used to.

“My biggest concern is about how my family feel when I’m away, and the fear for who I would leave behind if anything happened to me.”

Before being deployed to Afghanistan, Cpl Dolecki spent two years working as an instructor at the Royal Marines’ training school in Devon.

He said: “Sometimes when you get back from Afghanistan or Iraq you want to do something different.

“Instructing is providing for the future of the corps – it was an honour.”

Well known actor and TV presenter Ross Kemp spent two weeks with the commando in October for his show Return to Afghanistan, which aired last week.

Cpl Dolecki said: “He did OK. He was limited with what he could do because he is a civilian so we couldn’t do everything we would normally do with him.

“He took it all quite well.”