A soldier who became the North-East face of the war on Iraq has returned home. Liz Lamb met him.

STUART Lawley had never seen such ostentatious wealth. He was surrounded by beautiful gold-painted walls, hand-crafted decorations, expensive works of art and marble floors.

The Royal Marine, from Darlington, cut an incongruous figure with his desert fatigues and his SA80 rifle by his side, a torch lashed to the gun barrel with tape. The picture of him that was taken inside the gold-lined corridor became one of the most enduring images of Britain's involvement in the war.

They may have been called palaces, but Saddam's lavish residences had little to do with princesses, glass slippers or Prince Charming.

Before the war began, allied intelligence believed they were used to hide weapons of mass destruction. That may have been wide of the mark but they still housed the Special Republican Guard and Saddam's sinister intelligence service.

The palace grounds are vast. Some stretch for up to ten square miles.

In the courtyards, the fountains and pools were dry, but water still spat from the dusty taps in the impressive bedrooms. Some of the door handles still had shop labels declaring them to be authentic 24-carat gold.

Marine Lawley stormed the palace with other members of 42 Commando as British forces pressed home their initial advance on Basra. Despite fears of a fierce fire fight with the Republican Guard they met no resistance.

Once inside he could not believe his eyes.

"It was absolutely unbelievable. It spanned miles, there were lakes and different houses on the land," he said.

"It was vast, a totally different world compared to the streets outside, where the Iraqis lived in awful conditions. Saddam's palace was paradise. It was wrong that he was spending all the money for his own gain. The people had not seen any of the money, I felt so sorry for them."

Before his mission to Basra, Marine Lawley was stationed at a small settlement north of Umm Qasr where part of his duties was to hand out food and water to Iraqi people.

While he was there an informer told the 42 Commando the whereabouts of members of Saddam's Ba'ath Party, the political organisation that ruled the country for 35 years. The commandos swooped on an address, capturing several members of the group.

Throughout his time in the Gulf, Marine Lawley said there was no hostility towards the British from the Iraqi people.

The 20-year-old, now back home with his mother Linda and sister, Rachel, said: "They loved us. We had kids coming up and hugging us and saying thank you.

"They said we were on their side.

"It brought a tear to my eye at one point, when they said that they had nothing but we had helped them get something back.

"It was such a good feeling."

On home soil

SOLDIERS from Queen's Division Normandy Band returned from Iraq to be greeted by their families at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, yesterday.

Their colleagues from the King's Division Waterloo Band heralded their return with parade.

The soldiers had been serving in the Gulf for three months, where their main responsibility was looking after the field hospital.

They will now take a short period of leave with their families.