A SOLDIER was fighting for his life today after a pickaxe was lodged in his skull during an alleged attack in a war training exercise.

Konrad Bisping, 26, from Clitheroe, was airlifted to hospital with part of the axe still in his head.

The incident happened while the Queen's Lancashire Regiment was on manoeuvres on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire.

A 17-year-old private was apprehended by senior officers and other members of the regiment at Imber Village, an Army training facility on Salisbury Plain, immediately after the incident.

He appeared at North Wiltshire Magistrates Court in Chippenham on Thursday and was remanded in custody to appear before a youth court on 21 January where the case is expected to be committed to Crown Court.

Konrad, a former pupil at St Augustine's High School, Billington, lived in Henthorn Close, Clitheroe, before joining the army when he was 18.

He was leading a platoon of soldiers preparing for the possibility of war with Iraq -- during an operation codenamed Wessex Warrior -- when the incident took place, on Tuesday afternoon.

Konrad, a lance corporal in the regiment's 1st Battalion, was acting as a section commander in charge of a unit of eight men when the incident took place.

He was initially airlifted to Salisbury Hospital but then transferred to the neurological unit at Southampton Hospital, where emergency surgery was carried out. His condition was described today as critical.

Konrad now lives at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, with his wife Claire, a medic who he met through the army and married two months ago.

He has a two-year-old son called Declan from a previous relationship.

Konrad has five brothers and sisters, Stephen, 31, Michael, 22, twins Adam and Maxine, 18, and Shrien, 17.

His mother Kathleen, who still lives in Clitheroe, wife Claire and sisters Shrien and Maxine are in Southampton keeping a bedside vigil.

Brother Stephen, of Clitheroe, said: "We've heard he's stabilising but the next 48 hours will be touch and go. We're waiting and praying that he'll pull through. He's 6ft 5in and a strong lad so we're hopeful. My mum and his wife rushed down there as soon as they heard.

"He'd gone on exercises a few days ago. One battalion was taking part in war games against another battalion down there.

"From what we've heard he went as white as a ghost and there was blood everywhere. Another soldier who witnessed it thought he was dead. He was airlifted to Southampton General with the axe still in his head.

"He's still unconscious and they are going to wait a while before trying to bring him round. They're hoping to transfer him to Walton Hospital in Liverpool after that."

Captain Mark Moutarde, from the regiment, said: "The thoughts and prayers of every single officer and soldier are with Lance Corporal Bisping, his wife and his family.

"We are providing all the support we can to help them through this particularly difficult time. He is a very well known and extremely popular soldier and everyone is just hoping he gets well."

He added that Mr Bisping is a "larger than life" character and an excellent rugby league player.

Det Sgt Andy Cross, from Wiltshire Police, said officers had interviewed most of the soldiers who witnessed the alleged attack, which he described as a "serious incident".

Capt Moutarde said the 600-strong unit would be returning to their base in North Yorkshire as planned over the next few days.

However, he added that the mood among the soldiers was "sombre" and said members of the regiment who witnessed the attack had been left shocked and "deeply upset".