A BRITISH Army officer who helped in the immediate aftermath of the Parsons Green Tube bombing said helping to bring the attacker to justice was immensely rewarding.

Lieutenant Colonel Craig Palmer of the Royal Artillery was on the District Line train on September 15 last year when a homemade device, built by Ahmed Hassan, partially detonated.

Last night the Stockton father-of-three was due to find out whether he has won the individual Hero at Home category in The Sun newspaper's annual military awards, the Millies, after he took vital photos and gathered important information.

The actions of the 49-year-old allowed the authorities to make the area safe, stop the attacker leaving the country and prosecute him.

Lt Col Palmer gave evidence during the trial of then 18-year-old Hassan in March at the Old Bailey in London and said he was "really delighted" with the teenager's sentence.

"It was immensely rewarding and satisfying to actually see this guy go down with 34 years," Lt Col Palmer said.

"And to help these victims know and have some satisfaction themselves, to know that the system works and this guy had been brought to justice."

Describing the events of the bombing,the officer, who has been in the Army for 25 years and completed tours of Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland, said he saw a flash in his peripheral vision.

"With that flash there was a scream, and then lots of screams, then just a sense of panic coming through the train," he said.

"There was a stampede of people through the train, and all the doors opened and everyone was spilling off the train down the platform trying to get to the exit.

"I smelt a smell that I instantly recognised as explosive. At that point I got a bit of a chill, and thought crikey this is serious and probably a terrorist incident."

Moving towards the danger, from the platform he said he spotted a device in a door well of the train wrapped in a Lidl carrier bag.

Lt Col Palmer said it was "burning away" and at that point he expected it to be a partially activated improvised explosive device.

With no sign of a bomber or any idea of whether there were more devices, he said he knew someone needed to call in to the emergency services with clear authority as to what it was.

"The carriage was filling up with lots of smoke, which in itself is a threat. I took a breath stepped inside and the doors closed and I was in the carriage by myself," he said.

"I took three photographs – one showing the scene, one from the left and one up to the device from the top as close as I could."