Comrades tried to save soldier in hail of bullets

Private Gregg Thomas Stone, 20, of Atwick, near Hornsea, was part of a task force that rescued a local man who was going to be executed by insurgents in Helmand province last June.

The married soldier, from 3rd Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment, had been there less than a month and had just learned that he was about to become a father for the first time.

He and his colleagues had entered a compound where the hostage was being held, the inquest at Hull Coroners’ Court heard.

They came under heavy fire from enemy troops hiding in jungle nearby as they made their getaway.

Pte Stone, who was originally from Hull, collapsed after being shot through the cheek. He was given first aid but showed no signs of life, the hearing was told.

He was taken to a waiting helicopter and airlifted to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

His friend, Pte Lewis Murphy, who was serving alongside Pte Stone, was commended by the coroner after telling the inquest how he carried his fallen colleague across a river.

“It happened so fast,” he said. “The next thing we were told was ‘man down’.

“We weren’t sure what condition he was in. We were in the fight but we weren’t actually engaging the enemy.”

Pte Murphy said he took Pte Stone to the banks of a nearby river, adding: “We tried to get Gregg across the river without a stretcher.

“I just picked Gregg up and started running to the helicopter.”

He said two other soldiers also helped as he neared the aircraft.

He told Pte Stone’s family, who sat opposite him at the inquest: “Gregg wasn’t just a great soldier - he was a great friend.”

The soldier’s mother and father Angie and Robert, as well as his widow Samantha, were at the hearing. Samantha, mother to four-month-old Grace, cried during the proceedings and was comforted by her in-laws as Coroner Professor Paul Marks recorded Pte Stone’s death as an unlawful killing while on active service.

In what Prof Marks called an “extremely sad case”, he praised the courage of the soldiers who took part in the mission.

He said: “I cannot praise too highly the courage of Pte Stone and his comrades.

“The reason I praise them so highly is that they are volunteers in the deployment to a very dangerous theatre of conflict.”

Prof Marks said he will write to the commanding officer of the soldiers who “risked their lives to save a fallen comrade” to acknowledge their bravery.

He expressed his sympathies to Pte Stone’s family, saying: “Inquests such as this are extremely difficult to listen to. If I find that, I can’t even contemplate how difficult it is for the families.”

He also said he could find no flaws in the equipment the late serviceman was issued with, or in the training he received.

After the inquest, Pte Stone’s father, supported by his older brother Graeme, paid tribute to his fallen son.

“He was a true hero, every single one of them are,” he said. “There is no happy ending, and my son had to go.

“But he loved being a soldier, and he was proud to be part of the Yorkshire Regiment.”

He added: “I would like to say a big thanks to the lads and girls who were with him. He loved them, and they loved him

“The courage they showed and displayed in their actions were second to none in the face of the enemy.

“I truly hope they succeed in everything they do in life and continue with their military careers, and I hope the events of the 3rd of June make them stronger.

“There is some ending now the inquest is over. The family will never heal completely but we will continue loving him.”

Samantha Stone is to take part in a 274-mile trek to raise money for the Yorkshire Regiment Benevolent Fund.