Soldier dies hours after winning hero's medal

A WOUNDED British soldier who led his men to safety when they were outnumbered and outgunned by a furious Iraqi mob died hours after learning he had been awarded the Military Cross for bravery.

Sergeant Major Darren Leigh of the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment collapsed from a suspected brain haemorrhage on the morning his honour was announced. He was put on a life support machine but died 24 hours later, on his 37th birthday, in Cyprus, where he was based.

But he left the world a proud man. Lieutenant-Colonel Jorge Mendonca, the regiment’s commanding officer, told Sgt Maj Leigh on Thursday that he had won the award and made regimental history. The soldier, from Salford, was the first member of the regiment to be honoured with the MC since 1967.

"This is a shocking and unbelievably ill-timed tragedy that has robbed us of a much-loved regimental personality and a very brave and accomplished soldier," Lt-Col Mendonca said.

"Our thoughts are very much with his wife Marie and his daughter Limara at this terrible time. His death is a huge loss to the Queen’s Lancashires."

Sgt Maj Leigh won the award for "his quick thinking, courage under fire and determination" in his role with Burma Company, the First Battalion the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment in Basra on 9 August last year.

He had taken control of 30 soldiers and three vehicles during riots involving 300 Iraqis who had surged forward in an attempt to overwhelm a police station. Despite shrapnel in one leg, he led a baton charge which unnerved the rioters and forced them to disperse.

It was on a long day of co-ordinated and widespread unrest in Basra.

Sgt Maj Leigh was a keen army cadet before joining the regiment at 17. Two years later he was serving on the streets of west Belfast when he was in a patrol that rescued a four-man team cornered by an angry Nationalist crowd.

He was a "gregarious and vocal" character in his regiment, though his record was not perfect - he was twice reduced in rank. But his rough edges did not hide his intelligence and self-confidence.

After a successful operational tour in East Tyrone in the early 1990s, he was promoted to sergeant and awarded a commendation for his services to victims’ families following the Omagh bomb.

He was a keen sportsman with a passion for rugby league, which as a professional game was not a recognised army sport.

In 1995 he was a pivotal character in the formation of first a battalion team and then an army representative side, which caused the army to recognise the sport. He went on to play and coach for the army and became a referee.