"There's nothing like being blown up to focus the mind and wake you up." Harsh words for the soldiers of the Queen's Dragoon Guards (QDG), but if they are to survive their six-month tour of duty in Iraq, they must take every morsel of advice from their senior officers. As the men prepared for their third tour in three years, BBC Wales had exclusive access to the regiment, capturing the reality of life on Iraq's frontline.

From the snowy winter of their base in Northern Germany, where they prepared for their most challenging mission yet, to the searing 50 degree heat of Baghdad, the danger, the boredom and the banter is all part of life for the Welsh Cavalry, as the QDG are called.

Corporal Alan Lewis or 'Louie' is one of the regiment's growing number of Welsh speakers. He learnt the language through living in Bala, although his accent when he speaks English gives away his Wolverhampton roots.

"Every opportunity I get I practice (Welsh) because I love speaking it," says the 27-year-old. "Mainly because it p***es off the south Walians because they can't speak it and I'm a Brummie and I can."

Summoned to the Quartermaster's, the soldiers collect their kit for the gruelling six months ahead, with Louie giving a running commentary of what's what.

"It's like a military version of Christmas," he says, picking up a thermal cup. "Sweat rags to keep the sand from going down your back, a wash bag which is also good for fishing and a mosquito net - without this it'd be an absolute feeding frenzy because the mosquitoes out there are the size of sparrows."

As they arrive in Iraq, life becomes a cycle of patrols, escorts and surveillance with every job threatening latent danger. A harmless-looking bag of discarded stones turns out to be an expertly disguised collection of explosives strategically left where they could do maximum harm.

There are moments of danger like this, but for some of the soldiers, there are hours of boredom. For Louie, who thrives on adrenalin, being on guard duty at base is dull to the point of depressing.

"I hate doing this mind-numbing bloody job. Looking out of this window is sapping my will to live. Nothing changes - it's the same thing, day in day out."

A few weeks into the tour, a shattering blow is delivered to the regiment when two of their own men are killed by a roadside bomb. For some of the men, it leads them to question why they're in Iraq at all.

"We've kicked up a hornet's nest," says Louie. "There was no reason for us to come here."

With insurgent roadside bombs, sniper fire and grenades always a threat, the British Army's casualties are mounting and there are questions over how well protected the men are.

Of particular concern are the relatively lightweight Land Rovers - known as 'snatches' - that are frequently used for QDG patrols. Louie doesn't mince his words when asked what he thinks of the vehicle.

"It's designed for Northern Ireland, for petrol bombs, stoning and riot control. It's not designed for roadside bombs and it's not designed to be in the bloody desert. The Army are a bunch of skinflints and they'll adapt and bodge anything they can to do the job at bare minimum cost," he says.

Back home in Bala, Louie's mum Mandy says that she hasn't watched news or current affairs for a year.

"I have to be detached," she says. "Otherwise I can't cope, and if he realises I can't cope he'll worry and that will affect his job."

In the third episode we see Louie after he has been attacked in his tank. This third tour with the regiment has made him re-think his future direction, and he decides becoming an Army helicopter pilot would offer better prospects.