THESE mechanics earned medals after volunteering to work amidst the mortar fire of Basra.

But their admiration is for the young soldiers who took the tanks out into battle.

“When the army lads said ‘thanks’, that was the best bit,” said James Chadwick, 25, from Swanage, who recently moved to Bournemouth. “The medal’s a bonus.”

They are civilians based at Bovington camp who work for the government-owned company Defence Support Group.

General Sir Kevin O’Donoghue gave them campaign medals yesterday.

They went to the huge British main base outside Basra to fit extra armour to Challenger Two main battle tanks. Mortars would land around 75 yards away.

Steve Amos, 25, from Wareham, said: “We were told to expect about two a day but sometimes there would be 10.

“The siren would go off and you would lie flat on your face wherever you were.”

The men took part in some of the three trips to Basra during 2008. Each one was four to six weeks long.

At Bovington they work a regular shift with 350 colleagues and then go home to normal lives.

In Iraq they were cooped up in six-man tents with temperatures up to 50c and each day felt like Groundhog day.

But they were keen to point out how much tougher and more dangerous life was for the soldiers.

Mr Amos said: “They have a hard day’s work. They might come in at 10pm and have to be up at 5.30am. These young lads looked like schoolboys.”

Clayton Moss, 33, from Weymouth, said: “We’ve got huge respect for what they’re doing.

“You see these 18 and 19-year-olds going out driving in these vehicles getting shot at while you are back in base.

“I feel a bit embarrassed about getting a medal really because what we actually did doesn’t seem much compared to what they face.”

Mike Jackson, 34, from Dorchester, said: “What you do is a small sacrifice to make their time out there safer and easier.”

Also getting medals were Jim Elgar, 41, of Wareham, Steve Horlock, 33, of Yeovil, and Simon Raines, 33, of Dorchester.