RIFLEMAN Declan Anderson was on the first patrol of his first tour when two suicide bombers detonated a device and killed two British soldiers.

The 19-year-old from Taunton found himself in the middle of an incident that would have rattled the most battle-hardened of soldiers. He is still reminded of the bloodshed every time he sees the colour red on the floor.

The soldier, of 3rd Battalion The Rifles, Reconnaissance Platoon, was manning a vehicle checkpoint about a kilometre from his patrol base in Sangin, Helmand. "I saw two men on a motorbike about 300 metres out. All day there had been quite a few motorbikes, cars and the occasional tractor, and it just looked the same," he recalled.

"When I looked back there was a massive blast and I saw this motorbike in a puff of smoke.

"After the explosion went off everyone was in shock about what had just happened, especially me."

The platoon commander, Colour Serjeant Paul Lucke, told him to approach the scene.

Two of his colleagues were already giving first aid to the two British casualties, so Rfn Anderson scanned the area, providing cover from any further attack.

A Medical Emergency Response Team (Mert) flew in to evacuate the casualties.

"As soon as the Mert put wheels down in the wadi, all hell broke loose," said Rfn Anderson. "We had all sorts of fire coming in."

The men were attacked from multiple positions with gunfire, rocket propelled grenades and mortars. "There were explosions all in a straight line across where we had been.

"It was coming from everywhere. But none of the foot soldiers out there could identify a firing point."

A quick response team in two Jackal vehicles were able to pinpoint the attackers and put down covering fire and Rfn Anderson helped the stretcher-bearers over the rough ground to the helicopters.

He said: "I was in a state. I was thinking 'Where is it coming from? What shall I do?' I didn't have a clue. I didn't fire one round because I couldn't identify a firing point."

When the Chinook took off, the firing stopped.

Rfn Anderson said: "Not long after getting back here we found out neither of them had made it. They both died. It was just horrible.

"Morale was really low and everyone was feeling down, upset. Nobody could really believe what had happened.

"I didn't really know what to think. I just kept playing what had happened through my head."

The incident, which happened on December 15, resulted in the deaths of Lance Corporal David Kirkness, 24, and Rifleman James Brown, 18. They were both buried this week.

Two Afghan National Army soldiers were also killed at the scene and two more were injured.

A month later and the events of that day live on in Rfn Anderson's mind. "Anything red that I see on the floor just reminds me," he said. "I think about it. I can still picture it in my mind, even when I don't want to."

The rifleman only arrived in Camp Bastion for the start of his tour on December 6, after passing his 26-week infantry training course and spending five weeks at the 3 Rifles base in Edinburgh.

Asked how he felt before going on his first patrol, he said: "I had mixed feelings. I wanted to get it over and done with, and at the same time I wanted everything to run smoothly. I was thinking about where I was putting my feet. I was a bit anxious."

When the incident happened he still did not know many of the people in the platoon.

"We speak about it quite a bit," he said. "It's still on people's minds."