A Royal Marine had a lucky escape when he survived four shots to the head – thanks to his standard-issue protective helmet.

Eric Walderman is featured in many of the national newspapers this morning after his Kevlar helmet took the force of the bullets during skirmishes in the Umm Qasr area.

Kevlar is an ultra-tough but lightweight plastic fibre which is much more resistant to bullets than a metal equivalent.

The British commando’s luck held inasmuch as the bullets ripped into the camouflaged cover of his helmet close to the brim – an inch or so lower and Eric would certainly have been seriously injured, if not killed.

40 and 42 Commando Royal Marines are still deployed in Southern Iraq, including the areas around Iraq’s second city, Basra, and the port of Umm Qasr.

There are early reports of a column of Iraqi armour – possibly armoured personnel carriers – having been hit by coalition air strikes overnight in the Basra and Al Zubayr area, although there is confusion as to why a large force would leave the relative security of Basra and head south towards the Allied-held peninsula of Al-Faw