A nine-year-old boy with a dream of joining the Army was given a surprise when a troop-carrier truck arrived at his door.

Noah Clarke-Roberts, from Birkenhead in Merseyside, wrote to his local Army unit to tell them he wanted to join after studying the World Wars in school.

He was eagerly awaiting a reply but got more than he bargained for when it was personally delivered by Regimental Sergeant Major Richard Armour, who arrived in a six-tonne MAN troop-carrier.

Noah, who will spend the day with the 156 Royal Logistics Corp in Liverpool once coronavirus restrictions are lifted, said: “It’s unbelievable, I’m shocked!”

In the letter, the aspiring soldier said he had “good gun aim”, was fast and would do lots of practice.

Sgt Maj Armour, who also gave Noah a daysack of Army goodies, said: “Last Thursday we received a letter from Noah saying he wanted to help and join when he’s older and asking us to write back to him.

Noahs letter to army
Noah Clarke-Roberts holds a Warrant Officer Class 1 Royal Logistic Corps rank slide Corporal Rebecca Brown/MoD/PA)

“He even took the time to draw some pictures and put a little toy soldier in the envelope.

“It’s humbling to receive such support, especially from someone so young, and it touched quite a few of us around the headquarters and the squadron so we felt it was only right to send something back.

“We decided to put a little goody bag together for him and take it down in person, and once we’re back to normality we’ll look to get him down so he can have a look inside the trucks, see what we do get him doing some marching with the troops.”

Noahs letter to army
Noah Clarke-Roberts and his mother Danielle readthe letter he received from the Army (Corporal Rebecca Brown/MoD/PA)

Noah’s mother, Danielle, said she thought her son would make a good soldier.

“He’s very confident, not shy, very kind – a bit cheeky sometimes,” she said.