A TEENAGE Birmingham soldier killed in Afghanistan was being remembered at his funeral today.

Hundreds of mourners lined the street outside the Castle Bromwich church as the community gathered to remember the heroic teenager who was killed trying to save a comrade.

Rifleman Joseph Murphy, 2nd Battalion, The Rifles, was killed in action on July 10 in an explosion in Sangin, Helmand province.

The 18-year-old died trying to rescue comrades injured in a previous blast. Following his funeral at St Wilfred’s Roman Catholic Church, in Castle Bromwich, the cortege was set to stop at Villa Park, for a representative of Aston Villa to lay a wreath on the coffin.

Rifleman Murphy, who leaves behind his parents Brian and Jill, and his older brother, Ben, was one of eight British troops killed in a 24-hour period. Friend Rifleman Danny Simpson, whose life Rifleman Murphy was trying to save, was another.

The Officer Commanding C Company of 2nd Battalion, The Rifles, Major Alistair Field, was wounded in the first of the two explosions on July 10.

Maj Field said: "Rifleman Murphy was another Harrogate-trained star in waiting. Smartness was not his thing - the dust, dirt and austerity under which we lived was right up his street. He also had an infectious sense of humour, which he tried on with me during my first interview with him.

"I am extremely proud of all he had achieved. Sadly he was snatched from us by an Improvised Explosive Device, trying to rescue another fallen Rifleman."