Soldier killed in explosion named as Rifleman Aminiasi Toge

Jul 18 2009 by Andy Richards, Birmingham Mail

A BRITISH soldier killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan has been named as Rifleman Aminiasi Toge from 2nd Battalion The Rifles by the Ministry of Defence.

Rifleman Toge, who would have turned 27 on Sunday, died while on a foot patrol near Gereshk in central Helmand Province on Thursday afternoon.

His death took the number of UK troops who have died in Afghanistan since the start of operations in October 2001 to 185, six more than the total death toll in the Iraq war.

Rifleman Toge, known as Togey by his friends, was born in Suva, Fiji, and leaves a twin brother, three sisters and his parents.

He was from the same battalion as the five soldiers who were killed during a foot patrol near the town of Sangin in central Helmand on July 10.

They included Rifleman Joseph Murphy, aged 18, from Castle Bromwich, Corporal Jonathan Horne, aged 28, from Walsall and Rifleman William Aldridge, from Bromyard in Herefordshire.

Lieutenant Colonel Rob Thomson MBE, commanding officer of 2 Rifles, said Rifleman Toge was one of the toughest riflemen under his command and “was adored by all who had the privilege to encounter him”.

He said Fijian riflemen gathered in small groups across the Upper Sangin Valley today to remember him and bid him farewell.

“Rifleman Toge was my fastest Fijian and was known as ‘Lightning’,” he said.

“He was smaller than most of my South Pacific heroes but no less robust, determined and wily with an oval ball under his arm.

“And that was when he was at his happiest.”

He went on: “He had that uniquely infectious Fijian laugh and was a godly man who knew in whom he placed his trust.

“We have lost a courageous man of great stature – there was no truer moral compass in the Battle Group but there was mischief too, all very appropriate and full of fun.

“Rifleman Toge will be sorely missed and our first thoughts are with his family at this unimaginably difficult time.”