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| UK soldier killed in Iraq named | UK soldier killed in Iraq named |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The British soldier who became the 150th member of the UK armed forces to die in Iraq since the 2003 invasion has been named as Cpl Rodney Wilson. | |
| The 30-year-old who was from A Company, 4th Battalion The Rifles, died on Thursday in the early hours. | The 30-year-old who was from A Company, 4th Battalion The Rifles, died on Thursday in the early hours. |
| The Ministry of Defence said he was shot as he stepped into heavy fire to rescue a wounded colleague. | |
| He had been part of a patrol conducting a search-and-detention operation in Al Atiyah, north-west of Basra. | |
| Weapons cache | |
| After being shot, the German-born soldier was flown by helicopter to the field hospital in the British base at Basra Air Station but died from his injuries at 0220 local time (2320 BST). | |
| Three other coalition troops were hurt in the operation but none sustained life threatening injuries, the Ministry of Defence said. | |
| The rifles are operating in Iraq as part of 1st Mechanised Brigade and the operation resulted in the brigade uncovering the largest weapons cache it has found to date. | |
| Cpl Rodney Wilson was a natural leader, his officers said | |
| Five suspected insurgents were also detained. | |
| Cpl Wilson served as a section commander in the Rifles and was awarded a distinction in the Platoon Sergeant's Battle Course - placing him in the top 2% of infantry soldiers. | |
| He leaves a fiancee as well as his family, friends and dog Missy. He was based at Bulford Camp, Wiltshire. His commanding officer, Lt Col Patrick Sanders, described him as a "charismatic and inspiring" figure who led his men by example and gave up his life for a colleague. | |
| Lt Col Sanders said: "He had that rare gift of natural leadership that comes to only a few; clarity of thought, crisp and sure-footed decision-making, strength of purpose and a happy combination of a magnetic personality and absolute self-assurance that drew riflemen to him. | |
| "Where Cpl Wilson led, others would always follow. He was, in the words of his own riflemen, 'a legend'." | |
| 'A free spirit' | |
| He added that Cpl Wilson was also a "maverick" who loved to challenge convention and upset apple carts. | |
| "One just had to admire him - he could charm the birds out of the trees, call black white, inflict a mischievous prank on you and have you agreeing with him and laughing all at the same time," he said. | |
| "He was remarkable and truly unique - a free spirit - and we will all miss him terribly." | |
| Referring to the way Cpl Wilson died, he said: "It was a supremely selfless and brave act - he would not have thought twice - and he gave his life that one of his beloved riflemen might live." | |
| He was in every sense an impressive man Maj Mark Wilson | |
| Cpl Wilson's company commander, Maj Mark Wilson, described him as a joker who recently covered the inside of a colleague's helmet with shoe polish. | |
| He was an avid rugby supporter, who loved Australia and planned to move there to join the Australian Army, he added. | |
| "I knew Cpl Wilson, or Will as he was known to his friends, for four years and I can honestly say that he was the epitome of the thinking rifleman," he said. | |
| "A deep-thinker, intelligent and, irritatingly, nearly always right; he was in every sense an impressive man." | |
| He said as he had set off on the operation that would end his life, he had a look of "sheer excitement". |