Here’s the first picture of doomed British soldier Lee Rigby when he was serving valiantly in Afghanistan’s treacherous Helmand Province.
Lugging a heavy pack and weapons in temperatures of more than 100 degrees, Rigby patrols the Taliban stronghold.
He was on duty with the British army’s Fire Support Group when The Times of London captured the moment in 2009 — four years before he would be beheaded by two Islamists thousands of miles away from the battlefield, on a street in the British capital.
Rigby served six months on a remote base during some of the fiercest fighting against the Taliban. Some of his comrades were just teens at the time, on their first trip abroad.
They passed black-turbaned Afghan farmers, amid the constant danger of being blown up by roadside bombs, the Times reported.
Rigby survived the peril only to meet his end in broad daylight in East London during last week’s barbaric ambush.
The 25-year-old soldier had been off duty, strolling near his barracks in the city’s Woolwich district, when Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, allegedly hit him with their car.
The murder was recorded by passers-by on their cellphone cameras as Adebolajo and Adebowale allegedly began hacking at the brave veteran with a meat cleaver, beheading him.
The two were shot and wounded by police.
In one of the videos, one of the men can be heard shouting, “We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you . . . We must fight them as they fight us.”
The suspects are under guard in separate hospitals.
Meanwhile, new evidence emerged yesterday of missed opportunities to prevent the attack.
Adebolajo was arrested in Kenya two years ago, for allegedly leading a youth group that wanted to join an al Qaeda affiliate, London’s Sunday Times reported.
Reports at the time of the arrest said the group had been seeking terror training in Somalia with militant group Al-Shahaab — but Adebolajo was deported back to Britain, where he was determined to be a “low-risk” security threat.
Just days before the attack on Rigby, Adebolajo reportedly told friends it was OK to carry out an act of “jihad” on British soil.
Adebowale had been on police radar for his aggressive bid to convert young men to Islam, the paper reported.
Shopkeepers had complained he was disruptive as he handed out recruitment pamphlets, and police had asked him to leave the area.
The attack has set off racial tensions in England, and authorities are investigating whether an attack on a French soldier in Paris was related.
Stabbed on a busy Paris street, the 23-year-old soldier’s injuries were not considered life-threatening. His attacker escaped, making it tough to determine whether that assault was a copycat attack.
Funeral services have yet to be set for Rigby, who has been described as a popular and witty soldier and avid fan of his hometown soccer club, Manchester United. Known as “Riggers,” he was described by family as a “big brother” to everyone.
Rebecca Rigby, the soldier’s estranged wife, has said he was planning to spend the weekend with her and their 2-year-old son, Jack, to “continue our future as a family.”
“I love Lee and always will,” she said tearfully during an appearance Friday. “He was a devoted father to our son, Jack, and we will both miss him terribly.”
The family read Rigby’s last text message to his mother, sent the night before he died.
“Thank you for supporting me all these years, you’re not just my mum you’re my best friend. So good night and love you loads,” Rigby wrote.
Rigby fulfilled his boyhood wish to be a British soldier and joined the army at 18.
A member of the Corps of Drums, Rigby was posted to the 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, according to the British Ministry of Defense.
He was a machine gunner in Cyprus and returned to London, where he took part in the battalion’s public duties, including ceremonial guard patrols at Buckingham Palace.
The drummer was chosen to play in the Household Division’s Beating Retreat, a yearly military band ceremony typically viewed by Queen Elizabeth II or other royals. His selection for the group was considered a great honor.
“He was easily identified whilst on parade by the huge smile on his face and how proud he was to be a member of the drums,” said Warrant Officer Class 1 Ned Miller, a regimental sergeant major with the Second Fusiliers.