9:49am Thursday 5th November 2009
Tributes to one of the servicemen shot dead by a rogue Afghan policeman this week are being paid by his friends and former schoolmates in Pembrokeshire, as well as his commanding officers.
Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith, aged 24, a member of the Royal Military Police, had grown up in the county and attended Tenby's Greenhill School. He was one of the two military policeman killed while training Afghan soldiers in Helmand Province on Tuesday.
Popularly known as Nick, he lived with his family in Ludchurch and latterly Saundersfoot and was a keen sportsman, playing football for Tenby and Kilgetty . He left Greenhill after A levels and spent some 12 months as a football coach alongside Pembrokeshire's then football development officer, Gerry Rigby.
"Nick coached youngsters at soccer schools and after-school sessions throughout the county, and very popular he was, too," said Mr Rigby. "He was really marking time when he was working with me, and joining the Military Police gave him a whole new focus. He went away as a young boy and three months later, after his basic training, emerged as a man.
"His death is a terribly sad waste of a young life, but if there is any consolation to be had, he was doing what he really wanted to, and he loved doing it."
Corporal Webster-Smith joined the Royal Miltary Police in 2005 and was on his second deployment to Afghanistan. He had also served in Kosovo and the Falkland Islands. His commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Debie Poneskis, described him as 'a real character' and 'a spirited non-commissioned officer with a keen sense of humour'.
She added: "A professional and determined soldier, Corporal Webster-Smith was always the first to volunteer and the last to give up."
Tributes to Corporal Webster-Smith have been left on his Facebook site, where friends - including a number from his school days - have described him as 'an amazing young lad with so much to offer', 'one of a kind' and 'one of life's nice guys'.
Corporal Webster-Smith lived with his parents, Richard and Jacqueline and brothers and sister Chris, Sam and Hannah at Ragged Staff, Saundersfoot for several years. In addition to his family, who now live in Northamptonshire, he leaves his partner, Emma Robinson.
A tribute from his family described him as 'an irreplaceable son, brother, boyfriend and friend. One of the most loving, generous, kind-hearted men you could meet."
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