CHRISTINA Schmid, the widow of Didcot-based bomb disposal expert Olaf Schmid, is truly a remarkable woman.

We have watched how this 34-year-old has borne the loss of her husband with great dignity and strength over the past three-and-a-half weeks.

Staff Sgt Schmid was killed on October 31 in Afghanistan as he tried to defuse a bomb, 24 hours before his tour was due to end.

She has continually paid tribute to her husband, recognising that he was killed serving his country and doing something he felt passionately about.

Yesterday, at his funeral, she delivered two powerful messages. She spoke, as so many relatives of our service personnel do, of the tremendous courage and bravery they show and the need to support them.

Mrs Schmid recognised that the war in Afghanistan, and by extension that in Iraq as well, is deeply controversial and strained some of the support the general public had for our military.

Yet she was appealing for our communities to recognise that these brave men and women are doing what they have been ordered to and animosity towards both wars should not be directed at them as individuals.

But crucially she also made a demand of what she called peacemakers — in reality our and other Governments — to find a solution to the current situation in Afghanistan. Mrs Schmid, through her husband’s sacrifice, has earned the right to expect our Government to listen and act upon her words.