A former soldier left his ex-wife colourblind after he punched her and fractured her cheek and eye socket.
Roy Wright, 61, was not sent to prison after the sentencing judge heard his partner hit him with a wine bottle first - but he must now pay her £5,000 compensation.
The violent argument came after the two had been on a drinking session in Blackpool.
Preston Crown Court heard the pair got married in 2012, but there had been domestic violence from the beginning.
Wright, an ex Para, was advised at one point to take out an injunction against his wife, who had been arrested for assaulting him, it was heard.
LancsLive reported how in 2016 the husband and wife broke up, but rekindled their relationship the following May.
They decided to give their marriage another chance, and booked a weekend trip to Blackpool.
At the resort they drank heavily and started to argue about money, it was heard.
After drinking in the Soul Suite, a row broke out and the woman hit Wright with a bottle of wine.
They went back to their holiday apartment, but fearing the violence would escalate when they got inside, Wright tried to stop his wife from getting in and punched her face.
The woman suffered fractures to her face and had to undergo surgery to have a plate fitted into her cheek. She lost some of her colour vision as a result of the attack, the court was told.
He pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm and appeared at Preston Crown Court to be sentenced.
The Recorder of Preston Judge Mark Brown, said: "While I accept she might have been volatile and violent it does take two to tango, in the sense that it is rarely the fault of just one party and I certainly don't accept you were blameless.
"I am sure you were just as much to blame as she was.
"It is self evident that this was a relationship that was never going to work and eventually in 2016 you divorced."
The court heard Wright, of Wingate Court, Aldershot, previously served in the Parachute Regiment but now works in Nigeria on a Polio eradication program.
Judge Brown handed him an eight month sentence suspended for two years and ordered him to pay £5,000 compensation to his ex wife.
