British soldier killed in Iraq on 21 July 2007

The soldier died as a result of an indirect fire attack on Basra Palace.

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/BritishSoldierKilledInIraqOn21July2007.htm

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,We will remember them."

Help Injured British Soldiers

A tribute to the Irish soldiers serving in Iraq & Afghanistan, in the midst of betrayal and cowardice back home, they still serve their country with distinction!

A tribute to the men and women of the British Military - British Army, Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy who have given their lives over the years, with an emphasis on the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. To all those who were too young to die - Rest in peace.

Wounded soldier abandoned by his country

Ashamed and racked with guilt, the wounded soldier abandoned by his country
By Terri Judd

Published: 21 July 2007

Lance Corporal Mark Dryden is racked with guilt and ashamed. The source of his guilt is that he saw a soldier he greatly respected die beside him. The source of his shame is that he is an amputee, in his view, an unsightly embarrassment.

Almost two years after he lost his arm in the roadside bomb, which killed fellow fusilier, Sgt John Jones, in Basra, he has yet to have a working prosthetic fitted. He feels abandoned by the Army, the country, and the government he served for 12 years.

"I have been suicidal for the past 18 months. I once sat on the top of a cliff, drunk in my car, for two hours," the 30-year-old explained without a hint of self-pity. "It is the guilt, the lack of help, getting forgotten about. I just felt life was not worth living. I am infantry and we simply don't leave anyone behind. I got left behind."

He prides himself that he has reduced his 30 painkillers a day to 12, but phantom pains mean he often feels his missing hand is being crushed in a vice. As he puts it with searing regret, he is a serving soldier who can no longer "serve".

When a stranger in his home town of Berwick-upon-Tweed walked up to him and insisted on shaking his hand, thanking him for his service in Iraq, L/Cpl Dryden cried.

All he wants now is enough occupational therapy so he can wash, dress and feed himself single-handedly and for someone to tell him when he will be discharged from the Army so he can move on.

It was not the way he imagined it would be, the day he proudly passed out as a new member of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers at the age of 17. Twelve years later, he was an experienced junior non-commissioned officer with six medals to his name on his second tour of Iraq, when he set off on patrol with Sgt Jones. Supporters of rival teams, the banter in the "snatch" armoured Land Rover was about football.

But something felt wrong that day, 20 November 2005. For once, no one was willing to talk to them and they cut short the patrol. At an Iraqi police vehicle checkpoint, they were waved on into an eerily quiet street.

Sgt Jones suggested turning back. L/Cpl Dryden, the driver, thought it would be safer to catch up with an Iraqi car ahead. It is a decision that haunts him to this day. They were within a few metres of the camp when the vehicle was hit by two explosions. "I was in agonising pain, screaming at John to wake up, screaming for help. All I could think about was John. I kept asking if he was alive," he said.

He has nothing but praise for his regiment, which kept in constant touch. He speaks with equal admiration of the nurses and doctors at Basra's military field hospital, as well as the "overworked and underpaid" NHS staff at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham.

But the moment he left hospital things went horribly wrong. He was forgotten, left at home to sink into despair, as his mother Elizabeth, a 58-year-old factory worker, gave up her job to care for him 24 hours a day. His wicked sense of humour is still evident but he has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - mood swings, paranoia, flashbacks and nightmares in which he can still "taste the burning".

This week, the Ministry of Defence opened a new ward at the military rehabilitation centre, Headley Court, praising its "world-class care". L/Cpl Dryden has a very different opinion. "Headley Court left me for eight months. It seems someone had lost my paperwork," he said.

"How could they not find us when my regimental sergeant major was phoning me from Iraq every two weeks? I was really, really bitter."

The first two prosthetic arms were the wrong size. He still has not been told how to use the third. He contracted MRSA but was not told for two months. On the day he was diagnosed with PTSD, he got into a furious argument with officers, was charged with insubordination, threatening behaviour and disobeying a direct order and threatened with losing his pension.
Headley Court, he said, is "overpacked" with patients without legs or arms, suffering from brain injuries or burns. "I blame the Government for a lack of military hospitals. I don't think they realised how many people were going to be injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. The British public would be shocked."

L/Cpl Dryden has started a sports psychology degree. But he cannot get a job as he has does not know when he will be discharged. Nor it seems, does the Army.

This week, as Under Secretary of State for Defence Derek Twigg stood at Headley Court and promised the "best care possible for our servicemen and women", L/Cpl Dryden received a call from the Army's resettlement team asking whether he had been discharged. L/Cpl Dryden, it seems, has been "misplaced".

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2788667.ece

In Memoriam: Afghanistan

As at 12 July 2007, a total of 64 British Forces personnel or MOD civilians have died while serving in Afghanistan since the start of operations in November 2001.

Of these, 41 are classed as Killed in Action or Died of Wounds sustained from Action (36 are classed as Killed in Action, 5 are classed as Died of Wounds sustained from Action).23 are known to have died either as a result of illness, non-combat injuries or accidents, or have not yet officially been assigned a cause of death pending the outcome of an investigation. The balance of these figures may change as inquests are concluded.

Guardsman Daryl Hickey from the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards was killed in southern Afghanistan on Thursday 12 July 2007. Gdn Hickey was part of a fire team providing covering fire as others in his platoon assaulted a Taliban position.

Guardsman Daryl Hickey 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, 27, from Birmingham

Sergeant Dave Wilkinson, from 19 Regiment Royal Artillery died following an explosion during a routine joint patrol with the Afghan National Army in Gereshk, Helmand province on Sunday 1 July 2007.

Sergeant Dave Wilkinson, from 19 Regiment Royal Artillery, aged 33, from Ashford, Kent

Captain Sean Dolan of the 1st Battalion, The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment, died as a result of a mortar round in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on Saturday 30 June 2007.

Captain Sean Dolan, of 1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters, aged 40 from the West Midlands

Drummer Thomas Wright, 21, from 1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment, was killed on Sunday 24 June 2007 when the vehicle he was travelling in was caught in an explosion near Lashkar Gah, Helmand province.

Drummer Thomas Wright, 1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters, aged 21 from Ripley, Derbyshire

Guardsman Neil 'Tony' Downes was killed on Saturday 9 June 2007 when his vehicle was hit by an explosion on a patrol with the Afghan National Army close to the town of Sangin in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Guardsman Neil 'Tony' Downes, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, aged 20 from Manchester

Lance Corporal Paul "Sandy" Sandford, from 1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters, was killed while taking part in an offensive patrol with his company aimed at disrupting Taliban forces in the Upper Gereshk Valley area of Helmand Province on Wednesday 6 June 2007.

Lance Corporal Paul "Sandy" Sandford, 1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters, aged 23, from Nottingham

Corporal Mike Gilyeat, from the Royal Military Police, died on Wednesday 30 May 2007 when the American Chinook helicopter he was travelling in crashed in the Kajaki area of northern Helmand.

Corporal Mike Gilyeat, Royal Military Police, aged 28

Corporal Darren Bonner of the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment died on Monday 28 May 2007, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, as a result of an incident involving an explosive device.

Corporal Darren Bonner, 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, aged 31 from Norfolk

Guardsman Daniel Probyn from 1st Battalion the Grenadier Guards died on Saturday 26 May 2007 following an overnight operation in Garmsir, southern Afghanistan.

Guardsman Daniel Probyn, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, aged 22 from Tipton

Lance Corporal George Russell Davey was killed on Sunday 20 May 2007 as a result of injuries sustained in a tragic accident at the British base in Sangin, Afghanistan.

Lance Corporal George Russell Davey, 1st Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment, aged 23 from Suffolk

Guardsman Simon Davison, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards was killed by small arms fire in the town of Garmsir on Thursday 3 May 2007.

Guardsman Simon Davison, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, aged 22 from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne

Private Chris Gray was killed in action whilst fighting the Taliban in Helmand Province, Afghanistan on Friday 13 April 2007.

Private Chris Gray, A Company, 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, aged 19 from Leicestershire

Warrant Officer Class 2 Michael Smith from 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery died from injuries sustained when a grenade was fired at the UK base in Sangin, Helmand Province, on Thursday 8 March 2007.

WO2 Michael 'Mick' Smith, 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, aged 39 from Liverpool

Marine Benjamin Reddy of 42 Commando Royal Marines was killed when his unit came under fire in the Kajaki area of Helmand Province on Tuesday 6 March 2007.

Marine Benjamin Reddy, 42 Commando Royal Marines, aged 22 from Ascot in Berkshire

Lance Bombardier Ross Clark and Lance Bombardier Liam McLaughlin, both of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, were killed during a rocket attack in the Sangin area of Helmand province on Saturday 3 March 2007.

Lance Bombardier Ross Clark aged 25 from South Africa, and Lance Bombardier Liam McLaughlin, aged 21 from Lancashire

Marine Scott Summers of 42 Commando Royal Marines died as a result of injuries sustained in a road traffic accident earlier that month in Afghanistan on Wednesday 21 February 2007.

Marine Scott Summers, 42 Commando Royal Marines, aged 23 from Crawley, East Sussex

Royal Marine Jonathan Holland, from 45 Commando was killed by an anti-personnel mine during a routine patrol in the Sangin District of Helmand province on 21 February 2007.

Marine Jonathan Holland, 45 Commando Royal Marines, aged 23 from Chorley in Lancashire

It is with deep regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of Lance Corporal Mathew Ford, from 45 Commando Royal Marines, in Afghanistan on Monday 15 January 2007.

Lance Corporal Mathew Ford, 45 Commando Royal Marines, aged 30 from Immingham, Lincolnshire

Royal Marine Thomas Curry died on Saturday 13 January 2007 when elements of 42 Commando Royal Marines were engaged in a deliberate offensive operation near Kajaki, in Northern Helmand, Afghanistan.

Marine Thomas Curry, 42 Commando Royal Marines, aged 21 from East London

Lance Bombardier James Dwyer was killed when the vehicle he was driving struck an anti-tank mine whilst on a patrol in southern Helmand on Wednesday 27 December 2006.

Lance Bombardier James Dwyer, 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, aged 22

Marine Richard J Watson was killed on Tuesday 12 December 2006, in Now Zad, in the North of Helmand, Afghanistan.

Marine Richard J Watson, 42 Commando Royal Marines, aged 23 from Caterham, Surrey

Marine Jonathan Wigley died as a result of wounds sustained during an operation on the outskirts of the village of Garmsir, southern Helmand, on Tuesday 5 December 2006.

Marine Jonathan Wigley, 45 Commando Royal Marines, aged 21 from Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire

Marine Gary Wright died as a result of injuries sustained when a suicide-borne improvised explosive device detonated next to the vehicle in which he was patrolling in Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan on 19 October 2006.

Marine Gary Wright, 45 Commando Royal Marines, aged 22 from Glasgow

Lance Corporal Paul Muirhead, who was very seriously injured during an attack by insurgents in northern Helmand Province on Friday 1 September 2006, died from his injuries on Wednesday 6 September 2006.

Lance Corporal Paul Muirhead, 1 Royal Irish Regiment, aged 29 from Bearley, Warwickshire

Lance Corporal Luke McCulloch of 1 Royal Irish Regiment died as a result of a contact with insurgent forces in northern Helmand Province on Wednesday 6 September 2006.

Lance Corporal Luke McCulloch, 1 Royal Irish Regiment, aged 21

Corporal Mark William Wright was killed when a routine patrol encountered an unmarked minefield in the region of Kajaki, Helmand Province on Wednesday 6 September 2006.

Corporal Mark William Wright, 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, aged 27 from Edinburgh

Private Craig O'Donnell was killed after the military convoy he was travelling in was attacked by a suspected suicide bomber in Kabul on Monday 4 September 2006.

Private Craig O'Donnell, The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland, aged 24 from Clydebank

Fourteen personnel were killed following the crash of a Nimrod MR2 aircraft on Saturday 2 September 2006. They were:

Flight Lieutenant Steven Johnson, aged 38, from Collingham, Notts
Flight Lieutenant Leigh Anthony Mitchelmore, aged 28 from Bournemouth
Flight Lieutenant Gareth Rodney Nicholas, aged 40 from Redruth, Cornwall
Flight Lieutenant Allan James Squires , aged 39, from Clatterbridge
Flight Lieutenant Steven Swarbrick, aged 28, from Liverpool
Flight Sergeant Gary Wayne Andrews, aged 48 from Tankerton in Kent
Flight Sergeant Stephen Beattie, aged 42 from Dundee
Flight Sergeant Gerard Martin Bell, aged 48, was from Ely, Cambridgeshire
Flight Sergeant Adrian Davies, aged 49 from Amersham, Bucks
Sergeant Benjamin James Knight aged 25 from Bridgewater
Sergeant John Joseph Langton, aged 29 from Liverpool
Sergeant Gary Paul Quilliam, aged 42 from Manchester
Corporal Oliver Simon Dicketts, the Parachute Regiment
Mne Joseph David Windall, Royal Marines, aged 22

Ranger Anare Draiva of 1 Royal Irish Regiment, died during a contact in Helmand Province at 1600 local time on Friday 1 September 2006.

Ranger Anare Draiva, 1 Royal Irish Regiment, aged 27 from Fiji

Lance Corporal Jonathan Peter Hetherington died following an attack on the Platoon House in Musa Qal'eh, northern Helmand Province in the early hours of 27 August 2006.

Lance Corporal Jonathan Peter Hetherington, 14 Signal Regiment (Electronic Warfare), aged 22 from South Wales

Corporal Bryan James Budd was killed as a result of injuries sustained during a fire fight with Taliban forces in Sangin, Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan on Sunday 20 August 2006.

Corporal Bryan James Budd, 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment, aged 29 from Ripon

Lance Corporal Sean Tansey from The Life Guards was killed in an accident at a UK military base in Northern Helmand province on the afternoon of Saturday 12 August 2006.

Lance Corporal Sean Tansey, The Life Guards, aged 26 from Washington, Tyne and Wear

Private Leigh Reeves was killed in a Road Traffic Accident at Camp Souter in Kabul on Wednesday 9 August 2006.

Private Leigh Reeves, Royal Logistic Corps, aged 25 from Leicester

Private Andrew Barrie Cutts was killed during operations against insurgent positions in Helmand Province on Sunday 6 August 2006.

Private Andrew Barrie Cutts, Air Assault Support Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps, aged 19 from Mansfield

Captain Alex Eida, Second Lieutenant Ralph Johnson and Lance Corporal Ross Nicholls were killed following an incident involving insurgent forces in northern Helmand Province on the morning of Tuesday 1 August 2006.

Captain Alex Eida, Royal Horse Artillery, aged 29 from Surrey,
Second Lieutenant Ralph Johnson, Household Cavalry Regiment, aged 24 from Windsor, and
Lance Corporal Ross Nicholls, Blues and Royals, aged 27 from Edinburgh

Private Damien Jackson of 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment was killed in an incident involving insurgent forces on Wednesday 5 July 2006.

Private Damien Jackson, 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment, aged 19 from South Shields, Tyne and Wear

Corporal Peter Thorpe and Lance Corporal Jabron Hashmi, from the 3rd Para Battlegroup, were killed following an incident in Sangin, Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan on 1 July 2006.

Corporal Peter Thorpe, Royal Signals, aged 27 from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, and
Lance Corporal Jabron Hashmi, Intelligence Corps, aged 24 from Birmingham

Captain David Patten and Sergeant Paul Bartlett were killed on the morning of 27 June 2006 in Helmand Province.

Captain David Patten, the Parachute Regiment, aged 39, and
Sergeant Paul Bartlett, Royal Marines, aged 35

Captain Jim Philippson 7 Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery died in Helmand Province,
southern Afghanistan on the evening of Sunday 11 June 2006 when the mobile patrol in which he was travelling was engaged in a firefight against suspected Taliban forces.

Captain Jim Philippson, 7 Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, aged 29 from St Albans in Hertfordshire

Lance Corporal Peter Edward Craddock of 1st Battalion The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment died as a result of a road traffic accident in Lashkar Gah, Southern Afghanistan on Monday 27 March 2006.

Lance Corporal Peter Edward Craddock, 1st Battalion The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment

Corporal Mark Cridge of 7 Signal Regiment died in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, on 22 March 2006.

Corporal Mark Cridge, 7 Signal Regiment, aged 25

Lance Corporal Steven Sherwood of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry was killed on 29 October 2005, as a result of hostile action in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan. Five other members of Sherwood's patrol were injured when they came under fire.

Lance Corporal Steven Sherwood, 1st Battalion, The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry, aged 23 from Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire

Private Jonathan Kitulagoda was killed, and four soldiers injured, by an apparent suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan on Wednesday 28 January 2004. Private Kitulagoda was aged 23 and came from Plymouth where he was a student. A member of the Rifle Volunteers, a Territorial Army battalion, he was serving in Kabul with the International Security Assistance Force.

Private Jonathan Kitulagoda, the Rifle Volunteers, aged 23 from Plymouth

Sergeant Robert Busuttil and Corporal John Gregory, both aged thirty, died from gunshot wounds at the British base at Kabul International Airport, on 17 August 2002.

Sergeant Robert Busuttil, and
Corporal John Gregory both from the Royal Logistic Corps

Private Darren John George from the Royal Anglian Regiment died on Tuesday 9 April 2002 following an incident during a security patrol in Kabul.

Private Darren John George, the Royal Anglian Regiment


http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/OperationsFactsheets/OperationsInAfghanistanBritishFatalities.htm



"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,We will remember them."

Objections to Injured Servicemen's Families

It is often the first port of call for servicemen and women returning home after being wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Soldiers who may have lost limbs or suffered severe trauma spend months rebuilding their lives at Headley Court military rehabilitation centre.

But when an Armed Forces charity decided to buy a £ 1.7million six-bedroom house nearby so visiting relatives would have somewhere to stay, the well-heeled neighbours in Ashtead, Surrey, launched their own offensive.

The Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association, which has applied to the local council to to make some alterations at the property, including installing a wheelchair ramp, had been hoping for no objections.

After all, Headley Court had been part of the area for more than 60 years.

But residents apparently do mind. They have flooded the council with almost 100 letters of protest, raising every conceivable objection to the new property being used to house families visiting soldiers.

They claimed 'additional noise' and 'huge amount of additional traffic' would ruin the peace of the private lane and warned that the value of their multi-million-pound properties would plummet.

The families 'would not be welcome', they said, and their arrival could 'destroy the character' of the area.

One resident even objected on security grounds, claiming the house could become a terrorist target, while another suggested wheelchairs would present a fire hazard.

Planners at Mole Valley District Council will consider the case on August 1 but last night serving soldiers made their views clear.

One Army officer recently returned from Iraq told the Mail: "They make me sick. It's just staggeringly selfish.

"Perhaps these people would care to come out to the field hospital in Basra and tell some young soldier having his leg amputated after a [bomb] attack exactly why his family isn't worthy to rub shoulders with this bunch in their Surrey village.

"Who do they think they are? Do they have the slightest clue about the sacrifices-young soldiers make on their behalf every day? Shame on them."

SSAFA spokesman Athol Hendry said: "These people should be ashamed of themselves. This level of hostility is incredibly disappointing and frankly astonishing.

"If you've just got back from risking your life in Iraq, you've lost two legs and you learn your young family are not welcome near the hospital where you're being treated - what kind of a message is that?"

When the Mail tried to speak to residents, none would be quoted.

Residents' association chairman Malcolm Webb, a 58-year-old oil executive, denied residents were 'nimbys'.

"This is just the wrong place and the wrong property," he said. "Some are concerned - in these awful days when these ghastly terrorists go after the softest targets - about the security situation."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=468619&in_page_id=1770

Sign the petition to support our injured troops and their families, show your disgust at selfish indifference of Ashtead residents: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Headley/

Or join the campaign at the Army Rumour Service website:

http://www.arrse.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/viewtopic/t=72560/postdays=0/postorder=asc/start=0.html