TRIBUTES have been paid in Didcot to Captain Lisa Head, the first female bomb disposal expert to die in Afghanistan.

Capt Head, of 11 EOD Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps, based at Vauxhall Barracks, Didcot, was critically injured by an improvised explosive device (IED) on Monday last week in Helmand Province.

The 29-year-old soldier was clearing bombs in the Nahr-e-Saraj district and had defused one device before a second exploded.She was flown from Camp Bastion to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, but died from her injuries the following day.

Capt Richard Gardner, adjutant at the barracks in Foxhall Road, said a flag was flown at half-mast last Wednesday.

He said: “The regiment has lost a very dear friend. Lisa was an amazingly vibrant and social woman with a fantastic sense of humour.

“We all dearly hoped this would not be the outcome of her injuries and the death has hit us all extremely hard.

“Our focus lies with Lisa's family, who have our deepest sympathies.”

Didcot mayor John Flood said: “You don’t think of women being bomb disposal experts, but they are these days. It is even more poignant when a woman soldier dies and everyone in the town will be thinking of soldiers at the base at this difficult time.

“You can tell from the tributes that have been paid by her fellow soldiers that she was very good at her job, and it takes an extraordinary amount of bravery to be defusing these devices on a daily basis.”

He said he expected a plaque to be erected in memory of Capt Head on a memorial wall at the barracks, where Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall laid wreaths during their visit in February.

One of Mr Flood’s chosen charities is the William and Grace Trust, which supports injured soldiers from 11 EOD Regiment.

He said: “The calls on the fund are enormous — one of the many expenses is adapting housing for those who have lost limbs.

“A disabled soldier lives in a house at the barracks which was adapted following donations from the trust and other charities.”

Keith Hughes, chairman of the Didcot branch of the Royal British Legion, said: “This is a very sad time for everyone at the barracks, in the regiment, and in the town.

“It is extremely sad when any soldier dies, but it is doubly shocking when a female soldier dies in this situation.

“She will be remembered with a two-minute silence at our next RBL meeting on May 10.

“The people of Didcot really support the barracks — they showed that in November when they gave a record amount during the two weeks of remembrance, £18,041.72.”

Capt Head, originally from Huddersfield, was deployed to Iraq in 2006 after being commissioned in the RLC.

She served in Northern Ireland before being sent to Afghanistan on March 27 as an IED disposal operator with the Counter-IED Task Force.

Lieutenant Colonel Mark Budden, of the Royal Engineers, commanding officer of the C-IED Task Force, said the loss of Capt Head had “rocked the task force deeply”. He said: “Her selfless commitment, dealing with the most dangerous of threats in Afghanistan, is a lesson to us all.

“She was someone that people were naturally drawn towards and wanted to spend time with."