Lest we forget

Among them are 179 crosses dedicated to those who died during the Iraq conflict and 230 in memory of the lives lost in Afghanistan.

The fallen hero who wanted to save lives

THE body of an explosives expert killed while defusing a bomb in Afghanistan was flown back to the UK yesterday.

Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, 30, died on Saturday while trying to make safe an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Sangin region of Helmand province.

He was commanding an improvised explosive device disposal team, conducting what the MoD described as a “manual route search” to clear devices near a base.

His widow, Christina, led the tributes as a hearse carrying his coffin was driven through Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire.

She threw roses as the hearse paused by the town’s war memorial and mouthed the words: “You have done really well”.

Later she said: “He is an absolute hero. He was a very brave man, there was no other man above him, I am so proud of him.”

She added: “Oz wanted to preserve life, he was not a destroyer, and he loved his team.

So it is so sad that unfortunately on the very last day of him being on the ground this occurred in front of them and my heart goes out to them.”

Staff Sgt Schmid died days before he was due to return to the UK on leave after spending five months in Afghanistan, where he made safe 64 IEDs and found 11 bomb-making centres.

He was born in Truro, Cornwall, but lived in Winchester with his wife and stepson Laird, five. He joined the Army in 1996 and was promoted to staff sergeant in April last year.

Mother pays tribute to brave son

THE mother of a soldier who died weeks after being wounded in Afghanistan yesterday remembered her “brave” son as “the best there ever was” as his funeral service was held in Scotland.

Corporal Thomas Mason, left, from Fife, was caught by an improvised explosive device in Kandahar province on September 15.

The 27-year-old, known as Tam, from The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, died in Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham, on October 25.

More than 300 mourners joined his widow, Kylie, 21, and mother, Linda Buchanan, for his funeral service at Trinity Parish Church, in Cowdenbeath.

yesterday.

In her tribute, Ms Buchanan spoke of her unending love for her son, ending with the words: “To me, Tam, you were everything and I’ll always be your mother.”

Men of courage killed in Helmand

TRIBUTES to five British soldiers murdered by an Afghan police officer poured in yesterday as the death of another UK serviceman was announced.

The troops shot dead at a police checkpoint in Nad-e-Ali, Helmand province, on Tuesday in an attack claimed by the Taliban were remembered as “men of courage”.

They ranged from a teenage guardsman about to celebrate his 19th birthday to one of the Army’s most senior non-commissioned officers, who was due to become a father for the fourth time.

Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, 40, Sergeant Matthew Telford, 37, and Guardsman Jimmy Major, 18, from the Grenadier Guards, died alongside corporals Steven Boote, 22, and Nicholas Webster-Smith, 24, of the Royal Military Police.

The hunt for their killer, named only as Gulbuddin, continued yesterday amid reports that the Taliban had said he was back with them.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence confirmed another British soldier, from 3rd Battalion The Rifles, was killed in an explosion near Sangin in Helmand yesterday morning.

His family have been told.

A total of 230 UK troops have died since the mission in Afghanistan began in October 2001.

As Regimental Sergeant Major, WO1 Chant was the top non-commissioned officer in the 1st Battalion the Grenadier Guards. On the day he was killed he was due to be told he had been awarded a commission as an officer.

He was also a leading contender to become Academy Sergeant Major at the Sandhurst military training college, the most senior warrant officer’s post in the Army.

On a previous tour of Afghanistan he carried an injured comrade in full kit more than a mile to safety.

He was born in Walthamstow, east London, and leaves his pregnant widow, Nausheen, and three children from a previous marriage, Connor, 16, Adam, ten, and Victoria, eight.

Mrs Chant said: “Whether in uniform or out, his incomparable courage and selflessness humbled all those who knew and loved him.”

Sgt Telford, from Grimsby, leaves his widow, Kerry, and sons Harry, four, and Callum, nine.

Mrs Telford, 33, told the Grimsby Telegraph yesterday that she wanted to tell Harry his father was “in heaven now and that he’s gone to be with the angels”.

Guardsman Major, also from Grimsby, who would have celebrated his 19th birthday next week, was the youngest of those killed in the shooting.

His father, Adrian, said he was shell-shocked, but added it helped that so many people were thinking of his son.

Cpl Webster-Smith, who grew up in Camarthen, and lived in Brackley, Northamptonshire, was on his second tour of Afghanistan.

His girlfriend, Emma Robinson, wrote on Facebook: “You have made me so happy and we have had so many happy memories together which will never be forgotten. I love you always.”

Cpl Boote, from Birkenhead, was a soldier in the Territorial Army who had volunteered to go to Afghanistan.

His parents, Margaret and Anthony, said he would “light up a room with a single smile”.

Widow calls for British troops to come home

THE widow of a soldier killed trying to protect the life of an Afghan he was training said yesterday Britain should pull its forces out of the conflict.

Amanda Binnie expressed her lack of support for the war as she planted a cross bearing her husband’s name in the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey.

Corporal Sean Binnie, 22, left, of the Black Watch 3rd battalion, was shot along with three colleagues while on patrol in Helmand with the Afghan National Army, last May.

Yesterday, his widow said of the war: “I do not support it. They should get everyone out.”

Soldiers like her husband were being sent there “to risk their lives for people who do not care if they die”.

“If they took all the troops out and made our country more secure I do not see it being a problem,” she said.

Brown: We cannot afford to walk away

BRITAIN cannot afford to “walk away” from the mission in Afghanistan if it is to prevent future al Qaida attacks on the streets of the UK, Gordon Brown will warn today.

The Prime Minister will use a keynote speech to reaffirm the Government’s commitment to the Afghan campaign following the losses of recent days.

He will stress the need to continue with the policy of mentoring the Afghan security forces, arguing that it is what distinguishes the international military presence from “an army of occupation”.

His latest intervention comes amid concerns in Whitehall that public and political support for the Afghan mission is beginning to crumble in the face of continuing losses.

Mr Brown will again attempt to drive home the message that the military campaign is inextricably linked to the national security of the UK, with terrorists continuing to plot attacks from the region.

“We will not be deterred, dissuaded or diverted from taking whatever measures are necessary to protect our security,” he will say, according to advance extracts released by Downing Street.

The Prime Minister will also use the speech to issue a rallying call to the other members of the international coalition in Afghanistan, urging them not to give up on the mission.

■ British opposition to the war in Afghanistan has risen sharply in the past fortnight, according to a poll yesterday.

More than a third of the public think all UK troops should be withdrawn immediately, up from a quarter two weeks ago, the Channel 4 News/YouGov survey found.