THE bravery of the bomb clearance team from Didcot’s Vauxhall Barracks is staggering.

Four soldiers from the base have been killed doing this dangerous work, yet men like Staff Sgt Gareth Wood and Sgt Gareth Reid still go out trying to make areas safe for fellow troops.

To read their words inspires awe.

All our service personnel display bravery, yet these men know every single day will bring life-threatening situations on what the troops call “the long walk”.

Sgt Reid tells how he just filters out the danger and concentrates on the task in hand. But for most of us that would be far more easily said than done – particularly after his first clearance came 24 hours after a colleague had been killed.

The true test of these men’s characters is not any self-glorification in doing their job. It is the utter low when, despite clearing 80 per cent of improvised explosive devices, they question themselves over the death of a colleague.

Sgt Reid tells of the feeling of impotency and wondering if they could have discovered the device if only they had been present. These special men deserve special praise.