A ROYAL Marine who lost both legs when his vehicle rolled over a landmine in Afghanistan is one of the faces of this year's Poppy Appeal.

Lance Corporal Peter Dunning, of the Yeovilton-based Armoured Support Group Royal Marines suffered appalling injuries in May's incident.

The 24-year-old will feature on a poster for this year's Poppy Appeal which focuses on the help needed by servicemen and women who have fought in the war-torn country.

L Cpl Dunning, who continues to serve at Yeovilton, has received special aids from the Royal British Legion to help him with essential day-to-day tasks.

This year's Poppy Appeal features different victims of the conflict.

Hester Wright, 22, and her six-year-old son Josh represent wives widowed and sons left without fathers.

Her husband, Drummer Damian Wright of 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment was killed in an explosion in Afghanistan in 2007, and she has received help from the legion.

And in a bleak reminder of the mounting death toll, one of the Royal British Legion appeal posters will for the first time bear the image of a coffin being repatriated from Afghanistan.

L Cpl Dunning was yesterday at Headley Court, home of the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre in Surrey, for further treatment to his injuries, where he met Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.

In the centre's prosthetics department, the Duchess chatted to L Cpl Dunning, who was having final adjustments to his artificial legs before his rehabilitation treatment finishes next week.

The Marine was seriously injured just 13 days before his deployment was due to end.

The Viking vehicle he was travelling in was blown up on his unit's journey back to Camp Bastion, killing his driver Marine Dale Gostick, in what is thought to have been the largest improvised bomb detonated in Afghanistan.

He told the Duchess he was hoping to stay in the forces but was waiting for an assessment which would decide the matter.

L Cpl Dunning, a proficient skier who is hoping to represent Britain, told the Duchess about the impact the centre had had on his life.

He said: "It's got me to the stage where I'm up and walking and has given me great help with my prosthetic legs.

"There is a physio department, social workers helping with claims, occupational therapists helping you get back to work – this place is second to none."

Some of L Cpl Dunning's colleagues who have served in Afghanistan were at the forefront of the Poppy Appeal launch at Haynes International Motor Museum in Yeovil, Somerset.

Three serving personnel from Commando Helicopter Force, which is based at RNAS Yeovilton, who have recently returned from active service in Afghanistan, were on hand for the launch as well as Mrs Barbara McAulay from Yeovil, whose husband Chief Petty Officer Alan (Mac) McAulay perished on board HMS Ardent during the Falklands conflict.