Fundraiser: L-Cpl O’Connor, pictured with wife Catherine, is to attend the fundraiser

The wife of a soldier who was with Pte Tony Rawson when he was gunned down is organising a Help for Heroes fundraiser five years after he was killed in Afganistan.

Primary school teacher Catherine O’connor, 23, will put on a family fun night for the wounded soldier charity in Dagenham on August 25.

Her husband Liam, 23, was on patrol with Dagenham Pte Tony “Nicey” Rawson to check an irrigation project when they came under Taliban fire in Helmand on August 10, 2007.

Liam escaped unhurt but Pte Rawson was pronounced dead at the scene. He was 27.

The death resonated with the public and a Dagenham street was named after the fallen hero last year, Tony Rawson Way.

Their regiment, the Vikings, was given the Freedom of the Borough in 2010.

Catherine, of Illchester Road, Dagenham, said: “Liam was just 18. He knew Tony Rawson. Liam has never been injured.

“I have known people who have. I’ve seen so much support has been given to soldiers.

“I want to try to raise awareness of the help given to injured soldiers.”

The teacher at Leys Primary School in Leys Avenue, Dagenham, met Liam after Tony Rawson’s death and the pair married at Stock Brook Manor near Billericay, Essex, in February 2012.

L-Cpl O’Connor is to take break from his third tour of Afghanistan to attend the fundraiser set to include music, face painting and a raffle.

The evening will take place at Mill Hill social club off the A13 in Dagenham between 7pm and 12pm.

Tickets cost £5 for adults and £2 for children under 16 and children under three go free.

To buy tickets call Catherine on 07534 944 945 or her friend Maria Chilvers on 07746 790 138.