TRIBUTES have been paid to two soldier killed in Afghanistan earlier this week.
Lance Corporal James Bateman and Private Jeff Doherty died when their platoon came under Taliban fire in the Upper Gereshk Valley in Helmand Province on Thursday.
The two men were members of Colchester's 2nd Batallion the Parachute Regiment deployed to the region earlier this year.
Commanding Officer of 2 Para, Lieutenant Colonel Joe O'Sullivan said: "They died doing what they had been asked to do, operating in difficult country against a dangerous enemy to make it harder for the enemy to influence the people and give those people the chance of a better life.
"Their commitment to their friends and the steadfast courage they showed as they faced their battle this morning is in the finest tradition of the Regiment and admired by us all.
"We will think about them, and what they were prepared to give here, and we will think about their families whose loss is so great."
For further tributes, see Monday's Gazette.
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