A veteran who was shot in an IRA ambush while serving in Northern Ireland has revealed how he returned decades later to the scene where he suffered life-changing injuries.

Rob Hughes, 55, from Swansea, a former lance corporal in the Royal Green Jackets, urged other veterans who had been hurt while serving during the Troubles to return as part of the healing process.

Mr Hughes was shot near Cullyhanna in south Armagh during an operation on December 13, 1991.

He said: “There had been a lot of activity in the area at the time. The intelligence in the days leading up to it was that a gun attack, a multi-weapon attack with a secondary device, was highly likely.

“On the day, we were being choppered south of Cullyhanna, north of Crossmaglen, to operate and complete a number of tasks in the area.

Rob Hughes in Army uniform and gun, beside graffiti reading 'IRA'
Rob Hughes while serving in the Royal Green Jackets in South Armagh in 1991 (Rob Hughes/PA)

“It was around 3.15pm, it was starting to get dark. The first I knew anything had happened was the impact.

“I was sort of flown through the air and hit the floor really hard and the pain in my right leg was like somebody had put a hot poker through it.

“Then there were long bursts of automatic fire coming from three different directions and I realised I had been shot and injured.

“I had a high velocity gunshot wound to my right thigh.”

Mr Hughes said his military career ended soon after, but he has been left dealing with the physical and psychological impact of the attack.

He said: “I think at the time I didn’t realise just what an impact it was going to have. I didn’t realise there was going to be an issue with pain in my right leg for the rest of my life.

“There was the psychological injury too, four years afterwards I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. In those days that was relatively unknown.

“At the time there wasn’t the support networks that there are now, once you left the Army in those days you tended to be forgotten about.”

Rob Hughes smiling next to a fence
Military veteran Rob Hughes said he had lived with many unanswered questions about the 1991 attack (SEFF/PA)

Mr Hughes said he still has multiple questions about the attack.

He added: “For a number of years I had thought about going back but my only impressions of Northern Ireland were what I saw during the Troubles, and I think not knowing what the changes were like post-Good Friday Agreement had always put me off.

“I had always wondered had I made an error on that day, had I missed something obvious, had I missed something that could have told me this ambush was going to happen, had I made a tactical mistake? I was blaming myself.

“For years I was too scared to come back, not knowing what was going on.”

The veteran said he made his first return to Northern Ireland in 2019 for a parade in Lisburn to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Operation Banner.

He said the next step was to revisit the area where he was shot. The trip was arranged this year after he made contact with Kenny Donaldson, director of victims’ support organisation the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF).

He said: “My wife Nicola came too. We went to Armagh City, Newtownhamilton and for a drive through Cullyhanna, Crossmaglen and other parts of south Armagh.

“We drove past the junction and I could see the area where it happened.

“It gave me the opportunity to both ask myself and answer questions about the day, could I have done anything differently?

“Once I saw the rugged terrain, the location of the border, I knew it was always going to happen regardless of what we did on that day.

“The escape route was straight across an unpoliced border so it was quite easy for them to carry out the ambush and get away.”

Rob Hughes and his wife Nicola smiling next to a fence
Rob Hughes was accompanied by his wife Nicola for the visit to Armagh (SEFF/PA)

Mr Hughes said the experience has helped him as part of the healing process.

He said: “For many years I had a lot of bitterness, a lot of anger about the incident.

“The fact that nobody was ever arrested, nobody was ever questioned, there seemed to be no justice.

“I think going back there, seeing the place, looking at the terrain, having the option to both reflect and think about it, it really was hugely beneficial.

“I would encourage other people who were injured or suffered negative events to speak to Kenny and maybe do the same.”

During the visit, Mr Hughes also visited a memorial wall in Armagh City for members of the security forces killed in the area during the Troubles.

He said: “It upset my wife seeing it, knowing how many people had died just in one area.

“There were so many names, so many people.

“To see that these names were being properly remembered was hugely emotional for me.”