BEING just feet away from a Taliban blast and coming within a whisker of losing his life would put most people off Army life.

But Corporal Anthony Horner has just one thing on his mind – getting back to the front line.

The 25-year-old bomb disposal expert with 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Regiment, part of the Royal Logistic Corps based at Didcot’s Vauxhall Barracks, was caught in a horrific explosion in war-torn Afghanistan earlier this month.

Nevertheless, the ammunition technician said the incident, which saw shrapnel smash into his left leg, had left him more committed to his job than ever.

He said: “The whole thing brought it home to me that there are a lot more seriously injured people than me.

“It reminded me why IEDs are such a priority and that every one we defuse is another life we are saving.

“It’s probably going to be the worst thing I’ll see out here and half my team was injured in it.

“It won’t alter the way I work or view this place, though, because being in an IED team you are constantly seeing the devastation caused by these bombs and always alert to the threat.

“We’re trained to know what damage they do, but it’s still a bit overpowering when you see it for real.

“The worst thing I’ve found is knowing my team are still working out there without me.”

The close call came when Cpl Horner and his team arrived at the scene of an explosion near a patrol base close to Gereshk, in Helmand Province, on June 1, which had killed a female soldier.

Their job was to comb the area to find out if there were any more bombs – and try to piece together how the original explosion happened.

But the already difficult situation was about to get worse when a couple of hours later there were another two blasts in quick succession.

He said: “When we first got there a lot of the guys were in an absolute mess. They could hardly speak, they were spilling water down themselves. We just handed out cigarettes. They were still in shock from the first blast.

“When the second blast happened it was just chaos. Everyone was down on the floor. Everyone was still a bit shocked and dazed from the first blast – we weren’t expecting it at all.

“I was just getting to my feet after the first blast and then I knew I had been hit. I thought it had been a pebble which had hit my knee.

“I thought ‘I don’t believe it, it’s got me’. It was just disbelief.”

Yards from where Cpl Horner lay was a Nato soldier who had lost all four limbs in the blast. He said: “He didn’t realise what had happened to him at first, he was just staring up at the sky. I think then he realised.”

Cpl Horner is expected to be back on his feet in a few weeks following physiotherapy.

  • IEDs are mostly made of adapted landmines or artillery shells rigged up to makeshift detonators.

Bombs are often placed on the side of the road and can be detonated by a wire by a hidden insurgent when military vehicles pass.

More sophisticated IEDs are rigged up to tripwires, which act as booby traps, or are detonated via radio or mobile phone signals.

Among the devices used to detect the bombs is the Dragon Runner, a robot fitted with a camera which relays images back to the operator via a hand-held control panel.

The arm can pick things up, move them, and even dig.

Troops also use hand-held detectors, which work like metal detectors, to hunt down the devices.

Sniffer dogs, trained to smell explosives, are also used.

  • DIDCOT’S finest know that in Afghanistan every step they take could be their last.

Deadly home-made bombs litter fields, roads and tracks all over Helmand Province and it is the job of specially trained bomb disposal experts from Didcot’s Vauxhall Barracks, home of 11 EOD Regiment, to defuse as many as they can.

Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) are the Taliban’s most successful weapon, which to date have claiming the lives of dozens of British troops, and the menace shows no sign of abating.

Every day, many more are planted up and down the Green Zone in central Helmand – and just one wrong foot can have deadly consequences.

Corporal Anthony Horner, whose team has so far defused 27 IEDs in just a few weeks, was once a trainee accountant before turning to a life less ordinary.

He said: “We just get out and do the job we have been trained for. Didcot is good for getting great training which you can see when you get out here.

“I can’t explain why I wanted to do the job. It was definitely not the risks.

“When you work with the infantry guys they are always trying to find ways around IEDs and avoid them, but it’s our job to go in there and get rid of them. We don’t have the same level of fear as they do.”

The use of IEDs by the Taliban has soared in the last two years and the devices are now responsible for the majority of British casualties.

Cpl Horner said: “You don’t think you are going to die. You just convince yourself you are never going to step on anything.

“You make yourself believe you won’t get hit. It’s not complacency, it’s a belief. I don’t think anyone would be able to do half the job if they were always worried about dying.”

One soldier described clearing a road full of bombs as like running a gauntlet – and they are often targeted by insurgent snipers while carrying out their work.

Cpl Horner added: “It happens every day but it just becomes second nature having rounds come close to you.

“You just stay there as if it’s a wasp coming past. There has been a few times when I’ve felt it whizz between us when there has been about a foot between me and someone else, but you get used to it and you start to know what is effective fire and what isn’t.”

Private Michael Mitchell, 24, from Bicester’s 23 Pioneer Regiment, was among the soldiers putting the finishing touches to his counter-IED training before going ‘outside the wire’.

He was being given tips by experts trained at Didcot on how to ‘search’ for IEDs using a device similar to a metal detector at Camp Bastion’s specially designated Barma Training Area.

He said: “I’m proud of my job. I’m nervous about going out on the ground but I’ve had lots and lots of training, top-quality training.

“I don’t know what it will be like out there but every IED I find will be a bonus – it will be another life saved.”

  • AMONG rows of beige coloured tents in Camp Bastion sits a small oasis of calm – and a reminder of the reality of war.

Bomb disposal experts from across the country, including our boys from Didcot, have created a memorial garden to remember their fallen colleagues.

Bronze plaques line the makeshift wooden seats inscribed with the names of each of their colleages.

Among the nine names on the memorial is Didcot-based Staff Sergeant Olaf ‘Oz’ Schmid, 30, who was killed by an IED in Helmand in October last year.

Captain Daniel Read, 31, is also listed. He died while attempting to defuse a bomb in Helmand province in January, while Captain Dan Shepherd, 28, died last July as he tried to clear a route in the Nad-e-Ali district.

Father-of-four Warrant Officer Gary O’Donnell, 40, died from blast wounds in September 2008 and his name too shines brightly in the sun.

Corporal Anthony Horner said: “Personally it is both a comfort and a reminder. Obviously nobody wants to end up on that wall, but I guess it’s comforting to know there’s places where you’ll be remembered if you do.

“Also it reminds you of just how dangerous it is on the ground and keeps you in that mindset. IEDs can catch even the most highly trained guys out here.”

Troops use the garden on the rare occasions they return to the base, to read a book, chat, or drink tea.

Cpl Horner fully understands the threat to his life and admitted he was not alone in shielding his friends and family, including fiancée Gemma Mason, 23, from the full extent of the risk he faces every day.

He said: “You have got to dumb down what you do. It’s a way of helping them and me cope.

“Gemma did find it really hard, but she has got into the swing of it now. It’s the little things, like not being able to send text messages every lunchtime and in the evenings.”