Cpl Tom Morgan, 28, was stationed at the same base as Pte Jeff Doherty who died just two days after his 20th birthday and was mourned by hundreds at a funeral in Southam last month.

Both soldiers were attached to the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment and living in a basic army camp with around 150 other British troops in the Upper Gereshk Valley, Helmand Province.

It was on June 12, after military medic Cpl Morgan had been at base Gibraltar for around three weeks that they were sent with their platoons on an information-gathering mission and Pte Doherty was killed.

Cpl Morgan, a former Southam College pupil, said: "It was the most horrendous day, very emotional and tough for everyone."

The Southam soldiers belonged to different platoons, which took separate routes to a meeting with some elders and leaders from the area.

It was when the troops were making their way back to the base that Pte Jeff's platoon was ambushed by the Taleban as they cut across a field.

Cpl Morgan said: "We heard the most amazing amount of weapons fired and got in as close as we could to make buildings in the area safe.

"There were bullets flying over the buildings. Machine guns, rockets and mortars from the base were being fired at the Taleban.

"Guys who had been in the parachute regiment for 15 years said it was the most full-on firefight they had been in."

Cpl Morgan's platoon made the buildings in the area safe and cleared a landing site for a helicopter to take out the casualties.

But the helicopter was re-routed to a firefight elsewhere and the soldiers ended up carrying Pte Doherty and colleague L-Cpl Bateman, who had both been shot and killed during the ten-minute battle, five kilometres back to the base.

Despite knowing each other by sight, Cpl Morgan had not been aware that Pte Doherty was from Southam until after his death.

He said: "As soon as I found out he was from Southam I couldn't believe it. He was definitely one of the lads, he got on with everyone, it was such a waste."

The soldiers' bodies were taken back to the main British base Camp Bastion for a 'repatriation' ceremony before being flown home.

Only a handful of soldiers were able to attend, so the troops at base Gibraltar held their own service.

Cpl Morgan said: "A padre was flown in for the ceremony. It was good to be able to say our final farewells."

* Read more about Cpl Morgan's time in Afghanistan in next week's Courier. A full slideshow of his pictures will appear on the site to accompany next week's feature.