MEMBERS of the public and the Royal British Legion lined Headley Way in Oxford yesterday to salute the 350th British soldier to die in Afghanistan.
Private Martin Bell, 24, of 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, died after he disobeyed orders so he could give aid to a wounded friend.
Pte Bell, from Bradford, was south of Nahr-e-Saraj in Helmand province when he was struck by an improvised explosive device. He had been rushing to help the second of two of his friends injured by separate devices on Tuesday, January 25.
His body was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital for a post mortem examination after he was repatriated at RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire.
Paratroopers from the training regiment in Harrogate paid their respects in Wootton Bassett for a man they said made the “ultimate sacrifice”.
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