Following the death, an investigation at Papworth Hospital, in Cambridge, pinpointed a string of problems, including issues with communication, record-keeping and patient handover. It found that a radiographer had failed to highlight the growth of a cancerous tumour.

Dr Steven Tsui, clinical director of transplant services, was not involved in the procedure, but told North Staffordshire Coroner’s Court there had been problems.

He said: “There were a number of failures. I didn’t feel the team performed to the standard I would expect.”

Cpl Millington joined the army on his 16th birthday and rose to become a corporal in what was later to become the Queen’s Royal Lancers.

He served as a tank crewman in Cyprus, Germany and Bosnia among other countries.

After leaving the Army in 2001, he was employed in a number of jobs, including installation engineer, factory worker and builder’s labourer.

He was recalled in October 2005 and it was as he was serving in Iraq with the Queen’s Royal Lancers at Christmas that year he was diagnosed with a lung illness.

He was told that he had only two years to live unless action was taken and in April 2007 received a double lung transplant.

But he died ten months later as a result of damage caused by disseminated lung cancer.

A lack of communication between radiographers and consultants meant it was not until October 2007 that a tumour, which had grown from eight mm to 13mm between June and August 2007 was detected.

Its’ growth was accelerated by the immunosuppressive drugs Cpl Millington was taking to prevent his body rejecting the transplanted organ.

He died on February 8, 2008 at his family home in Stoke, Staffs, leaving behind wife Siobhan.

She told the inquest her husband had to go back into surgery three times in nine days as post-operative problems with infection and stitching emerged.

She said: “He came through the first one extremely well and when he woke up he said he wanted a full English breakfast.

“But it was after the third one he was in a state and in pain.

“He said from the moment he woke up other patients had told him he would be able to take a deep breath and be able to breathe.

“He said his lungs felt like two deflated balloons.”

North Staffordshire coroner Ian Smith discounted a verdict of misadventure or neglect.

He said Cpl Millington had died from “complications of transplant surgery and immunosuppressive drug treatment”.

He said: “This is the result the family wanted and at least these days there is more transparency about the way things are conducted.

The reporter’s interpreter also died in the operation.

Stephen Farrell, a New York Times journalist, and his translator, Sultan Munadi, were captured last Saturday as they reported on the aftermath of a Nato air strike in which at least 70 people were killed.

Early today, Farrell said he had been “extracted” after a helicopter carrying British and Afghan soldiers swooped on a compound near the northern city of Kunduz.

“We were all in a room, the Talibs all ran … it was obviously a raid,” the 46-year-old told his editors in New York.

The Kunduz governor’s office confirmed that the raid had been led by British special forces.

Military officials told the Guardian that the soldier who died was a member of the special forces support group.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed that a British soldier, believed to be a paratrooper, was killed during the operation. Two Afghan civilians were killed in the crossfire, the BBC reported.

“We regret to announce that a British soldier has been killed on operations in Afghanistan,” an MoD spokesman said.

The number of British troops killed in Afghanistan since the start of operations in 2001 now stands at 213, with 41 having died in July and August.

A spokesman for Gordon Brown said the prime minister had spoken to the UK’s leading military commander in Afghanistan, General Jim Dutton, “to thank the [rescue] team for the tremendous effort”.

In a statement, the prime minister paid tribute to the courage of the British soldier who was killed in the raid. “His family has been informed, and our immediate thoughts are with them. His bravery will not be forgotten,” said Brown.