Sussex hero wins Military Cross

Sgt Torben Sorensen, MC.

"It's what you do for your friends, your men, it's how you lead them."

Sergeant Torben Sorensen is modest about the courage that saw him continue to lead an attack despite suffering a major leg wound.

He continued to attack an enemy-held compound after being hit by shrapnel.

Sgt Sorensen, of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, has won the Military Cross after the action in Helmand Province.

"It was the only way I could stop the rest of the patrol being fired at, at the time. They were under contact and I wanted to repel the attack. Yes, you know how dangerous it is at the time, but it had to be done." he said.

"At the end of the day, they are my friends out there. I wanted to stop them being fired at, so we just pushed to the centre of the compound and starting fighting from the centre,"

The 30-year-old, who comes from Horsham, was leading a patrol out of his base to tackle Taliban fighters who were attacking the British camp with small arms and rocket propelled grenades.

Sgt Sorensen and the other soldier became separated from the main patrol and then the sergeant was hit by shrapnel, causing a 12 inch gash in his leg. Both men fought on to clear the area and Torben then refused to be treated by a medic until all of his patrol had been re-united.

"It's like anything. You can't just stop because you get hurt, if you like," he said.

The Military Cross is awarded in recognition of 'exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land'.