'Nato weapon' killed VC hero
Cpl Bryan Budd died in Afghanistan last year
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Thursday, 29, Nov 2007 07:09
The British soldier who was posthumously awarded a Victoria Cross for his heroism in Afghanistan may have been killed by friendly fire, it has emerged.
An inquest into Corporal Bryan Budd's death on August 20th 2006 heard from ballistics expert Ed Wallace that the fatal bullet was that used by British troops.
Mr Wallace told Oxford coroner's court that it had not been possible to establish which of 24 weapons used by Nato soldiers in the incident had killed 29-year-old Cpl Budd.
But he said analysis of fragments of the bullet proved the ammunition was that commonly used by British forces operating in Afghanistan.
Cpl Budd, from Ripon in North Yorkshire, was awarded a Victoria Cross for two separate acts of gallantry in December last year, the first such citation in 24 years.
The medal was received by his 23-year-old widow Lorena.
He had done enough to win the highest UK award for gallantry on July 27th last year when, in Sangin province, he single-handedly assaulted an enemy position to allow a fallen comrade to be rescued.
Then on August 20th, in the incident where he received his fatal wounds, he continued an attack against Taliban fighters when all others in his platoon had taken cover.
Cpl Budd was found dead surrounded by the bodies of three militants, having continued the assault on his own and "knowing full well the likely consequences of doing so".