PEOPLE are being urged to turn out to salute Army bomb disposal experts when they return home to Didcot from Afghanistan next month.

Seven members of the Counter-IED Task Force, including two members of the Royal Logistic Corps’s 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, based at the town’s Vauxhall Barracks, have died in the past six months in Afghanistan.

Many others have been injured while trying to defuse improvised explosive devices planted on roads and paths by Taliban rebels.

At noon on Friday, April 16, the soldiers will march through the town’s streets to attend a `reception at the Civic Hall. Councillors are urging the public to line the streets for the parade.

The troops will be led by 80 members of 11 EOD Regiment, who work alongside engineers, weapons intelligence specialists, Royal Military Police forensic experts and military sniffer dogs to combat the threat from roadside bombs to patrols by British and Afghan forces in Helmand province.

Captain Richard Gardner, the adjutant of 11 EOD Regiment, said: “Seven people have been lost from the task force in the past six months, so it will be a fairly emotional day.

“It’s supposed to be a celebration of the task force’s return, but everyone will have in mind the seven friends we have lost.

“There are many others who are seriously injured as well, and we hope they will be able to be there.”

He added: “Dealing with the threat from IEDs is number one in everyone in defence’s minds.

“Wherever the troops are in Afghanistan, they’re supported by the Counter-IED Task Force.

“They’re always in the heat of battle.”

Town council leader Bill Service said: “This is an opportunity to show that Didcot supports the men and women of our armed forces.

“These are the people who are right on the front line. It’s the most dangerous job, and we’re just pleased that injuries are kept to a minimum, because of their professionalism.”

Seven members of the Army’s Counter-IED Task Force have been killed in the past six months in Afghanistan, including two members of 11 EOD Regiment:

  • Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, 30, pictured right, was killed in an explosion on October 31, last year, the final day of his tour of duty.
  • Captain Daniel Read, 31, left, died trying to defuse a bomb in the Mula Qasa area of Helmand province on January 11. He had been wounded in an explosion three months earlier.

The other task force soldiers killed in action were:

  • Sapper Guy Mellors, 20, of 36 Engineer Regiment, on February 15.
  • Warrant Officer David Markland, 36, of 36 Engineer Regiment, on February 8.
  • Sapper David Watson, 23, of 33 Engineer Regiment, on New Year’s Eve last year.
  • Corporal Loren Marlton-Thomas, 28, of 33 Engineer Regiment, on November 15
  • Corporal James Oakland, 26, of the Royal Military Police, on October 22.