London: A British Army colonel's life was saved by a US soldier who jumped in front of an assassin's hail of bullets, it has been reported.

The US Army reservist, who normally works for Apple, the Silicon Valley-based electronics company, was shot six times as an Afghan assailant opened fire on a group of high-ranking officers at a military training academy earlier this month, Britain's Sunday Times said.

Major General Harold Greene was killed in the attack. Credit:AP

The reservist, who has not been named, used his body as a shield to literally "take a bullet" for the senior British officer, and was hit twice in the leg and once in the shoulder, with a further three rounds stopped by his bulletproof vest.

Details of the act of heroism were revealed in an American casualty report, the newspaper said.