7:14pm Monday 23rd November 2009
By Matt Wilkinson
THE father of an Oxford soldier whose body armour stopped a Taliban bullet joked with his son: “You should have run faster.”
Lance Bombardier Nigel Greening, 23, was sent crashing to the ground after a bullet hit his back while on patrol in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
The former Matthew Arnold schoolboy crawled behind a mound to compose himself before sprinting – again under enemy fire – to help colleagues.
L/Bmdr Greening, of 18 Regiment Royal Artillery, was a member of Botley Cadets and 7 Abingdon Scouts and starred in the Gang Show at the New Theatre, while growing up in the city.
His father Steve Greening, of Browns Close, in Cumnor Hill, said his wife Anne cried tears of relief when their son phoned home with his tale of survival.
“When I spoke to him I just said ‘You should have run faster, son’. I suppose humour is the only way to deal with the shock,” he said.
“After he was shot he had to get up and run through the storm of bullets again to deliver a piece of kit – a compass – to make sure the rest of the men are safe. That is very brave.
“He always wanted to be in the Army and we understand he is going to be in dangerous situations. But I look at photos in the newspaper of the coffins coming home and I think that easily could have been my son.”
The soldier, who is now back in UK after serving two tours of Afghanistan, was returning to his base after a patrol in August when his 14-strong unit came under fire from a Taliban sniper.
One sniper’s bullet ripped through the water carrier on his back and smashed into the ceramic body armour, hurling him to the ground.
“There were bullets everwhere at my feet and you could hear them flying through the air. I felt the force of the shot and it threw me to the ground,” said L/Bmdr Greening.
“I screamed like a girl, I don’t mind admitting it. But I soon realised I had to man up and carry on.
“It was probably the most scary part of being out there.”
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