Youngest British soldier to die in Afghanistan killed 'because Land Rover did not have anti-explosive equipment'

Private Ben Ford, 18, was killed alongside Private Damian Wright, 23, when their vehicle struck a radio-operated landmine during a routine patrol in Helmand province.

The selfless duo died instantly when the huge blast tore through the 4x4's, flipping the quarter-of-a-tonne truck onto its roof.

Avoidable deaths: Private Ben Ford Private Damian Wright were killed when their vehicle struck a radio-operated landmine in Afghanistan

Private Ford's body was flung more than 40m, while Private Wright was crushed under the vehicle's weight.

The explosion also killed a civilian interpreter and seriously injured another soldier, Lance Corporal Knight, both of whom were in the vehicle.

Private Ford and Private Wright were believed to be wearing full body armour and a helmet at the time of the attack, but it failed to save them from the blast last September.

An inquest into their deaths in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, heard that their 'Wimick'  custom-made Land Rover was not equipped with Electronic Counter Measures (ECM), a device which blocks the detonation of roadside explosives.

The court heard that it was the first overseas tour of duty for Private Ford, who had enlisted with the 2nd Battalion, The Mercian Regiment, just 12 months before his death.

Lieutenant Jack Bellfield, who led the operation, told the court: 'I radioed through to say we were splitting off as we crossed the canal - it was then I heard the blast.

'I looked behind me and could see Lance Corporal Knight's vehicle was upside down and facing in the wrong direction. It had thick black smoke coming from it.

'I got out of my vehicle, looked behind me and called for medical assistance before heading back to the scene.

'I saw Private Wright trapped underneath the vehicle, his helmet and body armour had been blown off by the blast.

'I couldn't see Private Ford, I assumed he was in the back of the vehicle and I called for him but received no reply. We found him later 40 metres away from the vehicle.

'I knew straight away he was dead.'

The inquest heard that the soldiers were part of a nine vehicle convoy on a two-day intelligence mission to gather information from local towns about the whereabouts of Taliban members.

The soldiers were on the second day of the operation when they left Camp Bastion at 7.30am on September 5 last year in their Wimick.

They had been warned the route they were following had a 'high risk' of being targeted by improvised explosive devices and suicide bombers.

But the court heard that the convoy only had ECM technology in three vehicles, leaving the others open to attack from radio-controlled landmines.

Private Wright and Private Ford, whose Land Rover was third in the convoy, were told to stay close to the Danish vehicle in front which was equipped with ECM.

But as they drove through the remote countryside 10 miles north of Lashkar Gah, the technology on board the Dane's truck is believed to have malfunctioned.

It failed to spot a radio-controlled bomb hidden in a plastic bag at the roadside, and was unable to block its detonation as they drove past.

Private Ford and Private Wright are the first fatalities from the newly formed 2nd Battalion, The Mercian Regiment, formerly known as the 1st Battalion, The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment.