By Peter Graff CAMP BASTION, Afghanistan, Dec 7 (Reuters) - British troops struggled to save the life of a Royal Marine as Taliban guerrillas closed in on them during the heaviest battle yet in the southern part of Afghanistan's Helmand province. A British soldier gave the first eyewitness account of the death of Royal Marine Jonathan Wigley, killed by what British forces suspect may have been allied aircraft sent to give close support during a sudden and ferocious Taliban counterstrike. "We kept going for 20 minutes, but he had stopped breathing," said the soldier, his hands making gestures as if still pounding on his fallen comrade's chest to keep him alive. The British military says Wigley may have been killed by strikes from either U.S. or British-flown aircraft. The soldier, who cannot be named because he was not permitted to comment on the record on the death while it was still under investigation, said he was in no doubt they had been hit by a U.S.-flown attack plane, apparently missing a target. "I saw it. It was the A-10. I was five feet away," he said. "We called in a strike on the next trench. Then I saw it swooping toward us. I will never forget that noise. It was horrible." He also tended to another Marine hit in the same strike, wrapping a tourniquet around his arm to stop it bleeding. All the while, they continued to take enemy fire. "I threw myself on top of him to stop him getting hit," said the soldier. British military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Andy Price said at headquarters in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, that friendly fire may have killed Wigley. "It is possible, but not confirmed, that Marine Wigley's death may have been the result of fire from ISAF aircraft operating in support," said Price. British troops are battling the Taliban in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province as part of NATO's ISAF force. SUDDEN COUNTERATTACK The British troops had initially met only sporadic and poorly-organised resistance when they swept before daybreak into wheat fields at the north end of the mainly Taliban-held Garmser district in the lower valley of the Helmand River. But that suddenly changed at midday on Tuesday, around the time of Marine Wigley's death. The Taliban launched their sudden counterattack, attempting to encircle the British troops round both flanks. Wigley's group were on the right flank, where the Taliban appear to have come closest to surrounding the British position, according to a Reuters cameraman who was with marines in the central group and saw Wigley's comrades withdraw. The British called in air strikes. At the time the two marines were hit, U.S.-piloted F-18 and A-10 fixed-wing attack planes were in the air, as were British-piloted Apache helicopters. "There is no question that close air support saved the lives of many of our men that day," said spokesman Price. A British armoured ambulance from C Squadron, the Light Dragoons, drove through mortar fire to reach the fallen men but arrived too late to save Wigley. Medical crew described a harrowing ride under fire over ditches as they fought to revive him while the other wounded marine writhed in pain from his shattered arm. The remaining troops finally withdrew, forced to blast their way through walls to escape from mud-brick housing compounds as Taliban tried to encircle them, the soldier said. The soldier, a demolitions expert, said he used up nearly an entire rucksack of explosives to create an escape route. "We blew down one wall, the blast knocked us back five feet," he said. Eventually they succeeded in withdrawing before nightfall, hiding behind armoured vehicles which they used as cover. The marines withdrew to the "D.C. line" -- the district centre, a small road at a bridge-head at the north end of the otherwise mainly Taliban controlled valley, and have remained there for the two days since, fending off Taliban attacks. "All our objectives were achieved, but very much at a high cost," said Price.
