A police officer knifed in the eye as he took on the marauding London Bridge attackers has offered an apology from his hospital bed for not being able to help more.
Meanwhile, the family of an off-duty officer, who attempted to take on the armed trio with his bare hands, said he "would no doubt do exactly the same again".
Their fearless actions were brought into the spotlight as arrests continued to clock up in the aftermath of the weekend's atrocity, with a flurry of raids overnight.
A more detailed profile of the perpetrators also started to emerge, as relatives of 27-year-old Khuram Butt said he drew inspiration from extremist videos on YouTube and wanted to fight in Syria but had his passport taken away by family.
The British Transport Police officer who is in hospital recovering from his eye injury said in a statement: "I feel like I did what any other person would have done. I want to say sorry to the families that lost their loved ones. I'm so sorry I couldn't do more and I want you to know I did everything I could."
The family of off-duty Metropolitan Pc Charlie Guenigault said they were "extremely proud" of his "immense bravery" in facing down the killers on Saturday night.
They said: "Given the opportunity again, Charlie would no doubt do exactly the same if faced with the same situation; helping a fellow police officer in need and protecting the public."
Amid more police raids, Fahad Khan, 36, the cousin of Butt's wife Zahrah Rehman, claimed his younger relative drank in the hateful tirades of preachers online and supported the Islamic State terror group.
He said: "Khuram, I know he was inspired by one of the sheikhs who was giving lectures on YouTube, and he belonged to one specific sector of Islam which had very rigid and strict views.
"Videos about fighting non-Muslims for no reasons, innocent non-Muslims.
"He wanted to go to Syria, yes. I heard from (an) uncle that he wanted to go to Syria to fight, but because of the family pressure or it might be the intervention by the authorities who seized his passport or whatever, he couldn't go there."
The internet was also described as a catalyst in the radicalisation of Butt's co-conspirator, Youssef Zaghba, 21, whose mother claimed: "He had the internet and from there he got everything."
Along with Rachid Redouane, 30, the men died in a hail of police gunfire after spending eight minutes laying waste to the vibrant nightlife of south London.
As intelligence services continued to piece together how the group planned and executed their bloody outrage without detection, a host of suspects remained in custody.
Officers arrested two men in a street and another man in a separate raid on a house in Ilford, east London, late on Wednesday night, Scotland Yard said.
The first man, 27, is being held under the Terrorism Act, while the second, 33, is being detained on suspicion of possession with intent to supply controlled drugs and firearms offences.
The third man, 29, was also arrested on suspicion of the preparation of terrorist acts.
Ilford, which is near Barking, has become the focus of the inquiry after it emerged that terrorists Butt and Zaghba had links to the area.
Neighbours of one raided address described seeing a suspect dragged from his home by armed police.
Butt, one of the men who carried out Saturday's atrocity, worked out at the gym in St Luke's Avenue, which was searched overnight and eyewitnesses reported that computer equipment was taken away.
The latest arrests follow the arrest of a 30-year-old man on Wednesday and a 27-year-old on Tuesday.
All eight people killed in the massacre have now been identified and include three Frenchmen, two Australian women, one Canadian woman, one Spanish man and one British man.