Articles | Firefight soilder named

Firefight soilder named

Published: Saturday, 13 September 2008, 6:12PM

A British soldier killed in a firefight in southern Afghanistan has been named by the Ministry of Defence as Private Jason Lee Rawstron.

The 23-year-old, from the 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, died after being shot in the head when his patrol encountered Taliban forces in Helmand Province on Friday.

Private Rawstron from Clayton-Le-Moors, Lancashire, was remembered by colleagues as a "dedicated" soldier with a "heart of gold".

His death comes after a decorated war hero was killed on Wednesday.

He has been named as Warrant Officer Class 2 Gary O'Donnell.

The 40-year-old father-of-four, from 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Regiment Royal Logistic Corps (RLC), was killed in an explosion while on patrol near Musa Qala, also in Helmand Province.

He leaves behind his wife, Toni, their children, Aiden, eight, and Ben, nine weeks, as well as his children from a previous marriage, Dylan, 16, and Kayleigh, 14.

Lieutenant Colonel Dave Wilson MBE said: "Hugely talented and unbelievably brave, he was at the very top of his extremely dangerous and difficult trade.

"It was a trade at which he excelled. It was his passion and he took immense pride in making places safer for other people, the danger to his own life rarely seemed to affect him. If it did, he kept it to himself."

The latest deaths take the number of British service personnel killed in Afghanistan since operations began in October 2001 to 119.