Soldier shot dead was father–to–be

A YOUNG soldier who was killed in Afghanistan less than a month after arriving there was expecting his first child.

Private Gregg Thomas Stone, 20, was shot dead on Sunday night as he took part in a daring mission to rescue a policeman kidnapped by extremists in the Nar-e-Seraj district of Helmand province.

The married soldier, from 3rd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment, was hit as his task force saved policeman Abdul Walid from insurgents who captured him at a checkpoint.

Yesterday, as tributes poured in for Pte Stone, who was from Hull, it emerged the soldier and his wife, Samantha, had been expecting their first child.

Pte Stone’s commanding officer, Major Rob Singleton, said: “Only a few days ago he told me how excited he was at the prospect of becoming a father for the first time.”