Fitaloon at MicroShaft

News of the sad death of a Soldier from 1st Battalion, The Royal Welsh in Afghanistan. The MOD has released this:

It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of a soldier from 1^st Battalion The Royal Welsh. The soldier was killed as a result of a gunshot wound sustained during an exchange of fire with insurgents that happened near Showal, in the Nad-e-Ali District of Helmand Province, during the afternoon of 7 April 2010.

Spokesman for Task Force Helmand, Lieutenant Colonel David Wakefield, said:

It is my sad duty to have to inform you that a soldier from 1^st Battalion The Royal Welsh was killed this afternoon in an area to the south east of Showal in Nad-e Ali District, central Helmand. He was on a foot patrol which came under attack from insurgents and in the ensuing fire-fight he was shot and killed. He died doing his duty and he will be deeply missed by us, his comrades, but his indomitable courage in the face of the enemy will be remembered.

Next of kin have been informed and have asked for a 24 hour period of grace before further details are released.

My thoughts are with his family and friends on this sad night.

PoliticsHome | Soldier from 1st Battalion, The Royal Welsh killed in Afghanistan | PoliticsHome | Press Release.

The MOD reports the sad death of a Soldier at Selly Oak hospital.

It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence must announce the death of a soldier from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, serving as part of the Household Cavalry Regiment Battle Group, on Monday 15 March 2010 from wounds sustained in Afghanistan.

The soldier died at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at Selly Oak Hospital yesterday evening as a result of wounds sustained in an explosion which occurred in the Musa Qal’ah district of Helmand province on the morning of 21 February 2010.

Spokesman for Task Force Helmand, Lieutenant Colonel David Wakefield, said:

“It is with sadness I must inform you that one of our comrades succumbed to his wounds last night in Selly Oak Hospital.

“He was from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, serving as part of the Household Cavalry Regiment Battle Group, and had been seriously wounded in an explosion in the Musa Qal’ah district of Helmand province during the morning of 21 February 2010.

“It happened while he was on a patrol to the north of Musa Qal’ah district centre, part of the ongoing successful operations in the Musa Qal’ah area to drive the insurgents away from the local people and away from the district centre.

“He was one of us, one of our own, who fell doing his duty; we will remember him.”

Next of kin have been informed and have asked for a period of grace before further details are released.

This death was not connected to Operation MOSHTARAK.

My thoughts are with his family and friends on this sad day.

Ministry of Defence | Defence News | Military Operations | Soldier dies of wounds at Selly Oak.

Tributes to the five men killed in Afghanistan on Tuesday 3rd November were posted here by the MOD.

Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, Sergeant Matthew Telford and Guardsman James Major, all of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, as well as Corporal Steven Boote and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith, both of the Royal Military Police, were killed on Tuesday 3 November 2009.

The soldiers were all killed as a result of gunshot wounds sustained in an attack at a police checkpoint in the Nad e-Ali district of Helmand province.

Click here to read the full eulogies and tributes to Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, Sergeant Matthew Telford and Guardsman James Major.

Click here to read the full eulogies and tributes to Corporal Steven Boote and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith.

Paying tribute to the five men, Secretary of State for Defence, Bob Ainsworth, said:

“I was so very sorry to hear of the deaths of these five brave soldiers, killed in the course of their duties in Afghanistan. That they were killed by one of those they were working alongside is a particular tragedy.

“The memory of WO1 Darren Chant, Sgt Matthew Telford, Cpl Nicholas Webster-Smith, Cpl Steven Boote and Guardsman James Major will live on. They were men of courage who died building security in Afghanistan and protecting people in the UK from terrorism.

“My deepest sympathies and condolences lie with their grieving families, friends, and all those who served alongside them, who will feel the pain of loss most intensely. They are in all our thoughts.”

My thoughts lie with the many family, friends and colleagues of the fallen.

Ministry of Defence | Defence News | Military Operations | WO1 Darren Chant, Sgt Matthew Telford, Guardsman James Major, Cpl Steven Boote and Cpl Nicholas Webster-Smith killed in Afghanistan.