A FORMER soldier who had a “conversation with God” during the Gulf War is the new chaplain at Taunton School.

The Rev Matthew Dietz has taken up the post ten years after leaving the Regular Army.

His career in uniform saw him in the Royal Logistic Corps Officer and then in the infantry as a Royal Green Jackets Captain and Platoon Commander, including service in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Iraq.

He left in 2001 to work in the City in London but was recalled to the Army in 2003 for the Gulf War.

While in Iraq he “had a conversation with God under a eucalyptus tree in Basra,” leading to two years of theological training at Oxford University, followed by ordination as a Church of England priest.

Prior to his appointment at Taunton School, he held a similar position at Monkton Combe School, Bath.

Mr Dietz will also help run sport and Duke of Edinburgh activities and teach personal, social, health and economic education at Taunton School, which has an active Combined Cadet Force.