British Army officer killed in Afghanistan
From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!
Friday, July 3, 2009
- 10 November 2009: NATO: 130 militants killed in Afghanistan
- 9 November 2009: US Army chief of staff: more troops needed in Afghanistan
- 8 November 2009: Soldier killed in explosion in Afghanistan, number of UK soldiers killed in country rises to 231
- 7 November 2009: NATO airstrike kills seven Afghan security forces members
- 6 November 2009: Two NATO soldiers reported missing in Afghanistan, search underway
Two British soldiers were killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday, with one being the highest ranking British officer to be killed in 30 years.
Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, 40, Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, and Trooper Joshua Hammond, 18, of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, were killed when an improvised explosive device was detonated under their Viking armoured vehicle. They had been travelling along the Shamalan Canal, near Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province, on their way to resupply an offensive underway currently against the Taliban.
General Sir Richard Dannatt, the UK Chief of the General Staff, said Thornloe was "an outstanding commanding officer." In a Ministry of Defence (MoD) statement, Dannatt said, "[Thornloe's] courageous, thoughtful stewardship of 1st Battalion Welsh Guards since October last year has seen them superbly prepared for the demands of Afghanistan, both in terms of their professional capability and their unbreakable spirit as a team."
Trooper Hammond, Danntt said in the MoD statement, "was a first class tank crewman who epitomised the spirited and determined approach to operations expected of Royal Armoured Corps soldiers."
Lieutenant Colonel Thorneloe is survived by his wife, Sally, and daughters Hannah and Sophie. Trooper Hammond leaves behind his family, friends, and fiancée.
Sources
- Press Release: "Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe and Trooper Joshua Hammond killed in Afghanistan". Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), July 2, 2009
- "Tribute to 'outstanding' soldiers". BBC News Online, June 2, 2009
- "Highest ranked officer in three decades killed in Afghanistan". The Daily Telegraph, June 2, 2009
 Share this: |
 |
This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators. Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections. Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age. |
