Hero who saved 100 lives: Bombardier freed himself from debris of destroyed army control room and fought off Taliban fighters armed only with a radio and a pistol

Brave Aaron Collins freed himself from debris and raced to help others



Called for armoured helicopters and maintained a cool head despite chaos

Has been awarded a Goschen Medal for his quick thinking and bravery

A brave bombardier saved the lives of 100 soldiers after a suicide car bomber set off more than 20 explosives killing one of his soldiers.



Aaron Collins was serving in Afghanistan for the third time when he found himself trapped underneath the collapsed rubble with Taliban soldiers shooting at him from just 10 meters away.



The 25-year-old managed to free himself from the debris inside the destroyed army control room and single-handedly set about helping his colleagues, who were also trapped, while fighting off the firing Taliban.



Brave bombardier Aaron Collins, from Hartlepool, who has been awarded the Goschen Medal after he saved the lives of 100 soldiers

Armed with only a radio and a pistol, Bombardier Collins managed to call for armoured helicopters and maintaining a cool head in a scene of utter chaos, directed them to the attacking Taliban soldiers.



Bombardier Collins helped to save the lives of around 100 men in one of the largest vehicle-borne attacks recorded across the Afghanistan campaign.



Now in recognition of his incredibly brave life-saving efforts Bombardier Collins, of the 4th Regiment Royal Artillery, has been awarded a Goschen Medal.



Mr Collins was awarded the medal for his quick thinking and bravery after a suicide car bomb set of more than 20 other explosives in Afghanistan

Collins, who lives in Hartlepool with his girlfriend Kirby Miller, 28, and three-year-old daughter Sophie, said: 'You can’t stop and think about it, in a situation like that you just do your job.



'You have a lucky escape and you move on, happy days.



'I just did what I had to do on the day to protect myself and as many others as possible.



'I was told the next day I had done an excellent job and I thought ‘nice one’ and didn’t really think any more of it.



'But it was a proud moment to get that recognition and be told that I had been awarded the medal.'



Bombardier Collins was serving as a forward air controller on Operation Herrick when the control room where he was based was attacked.



In the incident, which happened at 6.15pm on March 25 this year, Bombardier Collins lost his own protective equipment but fortunately managed to clutch on to a radio allowing him to request and co-ordinate the helicopter back up.



As the roof collapsed, he helped 13 British casualties to safety while still under attack from the Taliban.



Sadly one of the soldiers, Lance Corporal Jamie Webb, died in the attack.



A spokesperson from the Army said: 'In very difficult circumstances he performed admirably in directing the emergency helicopter in and directing attack helicopters on the enemy.



'He remained extremely calm under what was a very stressful situation and his actions were exemplary.'

Bombardier Collins was praised for his work the day after the terrifying attack but then didn’t think anything more of it until he was called to see his Commanding Officer two weeks ago and told he was being awarded the Goschen Medal.

Mr Collins pictured with his mother Cindy and father Tom on receiving the award

He was invited to a ceremony in Larkhill, Salisbury, last week, where he received the medal with his parents, Tom and Cindy, watching on.



The citation which Bombardier Collins was presented with alongside his medal reads: 'Through his quick-thinking, and effective use of Joint Fires assets,

