READ FULL INFO ! It was just a routine patrol, through an Afghan village recently cleared of Taleban fighters. Sitting in the back of a Viking armoured vehicle, sniper Oliver “Teddy” Ruecker was “chilling out” and did not feel in particular danger. At the age of just 20, he was already a veteran of the Iraq conflict and had been out in the field for weeks under daily fire in fierce combat. For once it was going to be an easy ride. But the next 10 minutes would change the Lance Corporal’s life and write a new page in the history books of the 1st Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment. His conduct that day earned him the Military Cross. The ambush started as the seven-vehicle convoy passed a compound. I was scared. I didn’t want to go back but I knew I had to Lance Corporal Ruecker Ruecker said: “It kicked off big time. When the first rocket-propelled grenade hit, it was hell. “One hit underneath and one on top. There was a massive boom. Flames started coming in the top hatch where there were explosives. “The radio went crazy. We were immobilised and had to get out. “There were bullets and RPGs flying everywhere and an endless stream of tracer. I couldn’t stand still. I didn’t want to die.” The 1st Battalion “Viking” soldier ran to an alleyway to find cover. But as he turned the corner, he was confronted by a Taleban fighter brandishing an AK-47. “Luckily for me he was shooting in the air celebrating. I drew my pistol and killed him,” Ruecker recalled. When he turned around, the …
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