As enemy fire rained down from the Taliban, Michael Leather made a frantic radio plea for help – and was amazed to hear his brother answer the call.

Brother Jimmy directed the Ridgeback armoured vehicle he was in straight to the firefight, on the border of the Sangin and Musa Qala areas of Helmand province in Afghanistan.

Jimmy, 28, said: “Fighting for your brother, and fighting with your brother, your family protective instincts kick in.

“We were meant to be driving straight to the patrol base and waiting there ahead of an operation, but when I heard that they were under contact I flagged it up, and the others went ‘right, let’s go’.

“As soon as we pulled up in the Ridgebacks the fighting died down and they were able to come back to base.”

Less than 24 hours later, the brothers, who had not seen each other for eight weeks, combined again to face the Taliban.

The pair, from Stretford, went to All Saints RC High School in Sale and are both lance corporals with the 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.

Together with brother-in-law Sgt Paul Howarth, who is married to Michael’s twin sister Victoria and is also a 2 LANCS soldier, they dodged enemy machine gun fire and grenades to uncover a bomb factory containing parts for 65 deadly IEDs in an operation the following day.

Michael, 22, received a special mention from his commanders for his role in the mission.

The brothers, who were in Afghanistan for four months, are back at their base in Cyprus.

Father-of-one Jimmy, who shattered discs in his back in an explosion in Iraq, was determined to deploy to Afghanistan with his brother and brother-in-law despite his injuries.

He said: “There was no way that two brothers were going and I was staying here.”