A BRITISH Army dog handler killed in southern Afghanistan on Thursday was due to fly home the day before he died but insisted on staying because there was no replacement, his commanding officer said yesterday.

Lance Corporal Kenneth Rowe, 24, of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, and his explosives search dog, Sasha, were protecting soldiers from roadside bombs in the Sangin area of Helmand province when they were killed in a Taliban ambush.

Major Stuart McDonald, his company commander, said: “He was scheduled to leave on July 23 but was concerned about the lack of ammunition and explosives search cover.”

Rowe, from Newcastle, lobbied his unit to allow him and Sasha to stay on the front line, said McDonald. “This unselfish action epitomised his professionalism and dedication to his job.”

Rowe’s parents, Lyn and Kenneth, and his two sisters said they were too distraught to comment.

Rowe was the 112th member of the British armed forces to be killed in Afghanistan since 2001 and the second soldier to die in Helmand last week.

Corporal Jason Barnes, 25, from Exeter, a member of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, died on Tuesday when the ambulance he was driving hit a roadside bomb near Kajaki.

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