Australian soldier awarded the Victoria Cross

"I'm a soldier … I'm trained to fight, that's what we do. It's instinct and it's natural and you don't really think about it at the time," Sydney Morning Herald

FOR two hours, bullets and rocket-propelled grenades rained down on Mark Donaldson and his fellow soldiers. The coalition convoy had been attacked as it travelled through Oruzgan Province in Afghanistan, and many men died.

All they could do was shoot back. Trooper Donaldson ran between positions, firing his rifle, launching anti-armour weapons and exposing himself to enemy fire to draw attention away from wounded soldiers.

As coalition vehicles moved away from the ambush, he ran next to them so the injured men could sit inside. But when they reached safety, Trooper Donaldson realised that a badly wounded interpreter had been left behind.

He ran 80 metres back, exposing himself to "intense and accurate" machine-gun fire to rescue the interpreter. He carried him to a vehicle and performed first aid before returning to the fight.

For his bravery, Trooper Donaldson, 29, was yesterday awarded Australia's highest military honour, the Victoria Cross for Australia.