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obituaries

smasSapper Mark Antony Smith was 26 years old and from Swanley, Kent. He enlisted into the Corps of Royal Engineers in June 2001 and, following training as a Combat Engineer and trade training as a Communications and Information Systems Operator, he was posted to 36 Engineer Regiment in December 2002. He deployed to Iraq in 2003 and deployed on his first tour to Afghanistan in 2007. In April 2010 he volunteered for a second tour to Afghanistan on Operation HERRICK 12 having successfully completed the Royal Engineer Search Course. Sapper Smith was a member of the Joint Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group, part of the Counter-Improvised Explosive Device Task Force. His role was as a Searcher in a Royal Engineer Search Team.

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MatthewStentonCorporal Matthew James Stenton was 23 years old. He was born and raised in Wakefield, where he went to Wakefield Cathedral High School. On leaving school he joined the Army and attended the Army Training Regiment (Harrogate). On completion of Phase 2 training in May 2004, he joined The Royal Dragoon Guards.

On arrival at the Regiment, he successfully completed Mission Specific Training before deploying to Iraq with the Regimental Battlegroup on Operation TELIC 5. This was followed by a move to Reconnaissance Troop and deployment on Operation TELIC 11. He later passed his Challenger 2 MBT Crew Commanders’ course, and then deployed with the Viking Group to Afghanistan on Operation HERRICK 12 as a Viking Commander with D (The Green Horse) Squadron.

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StephenMonkhouseLance Corporal Stephen Daniel Monkhouse was born in Greenock, Scotland, and lived with his mother, Linda Watt, in his town of birth.  He was 28 years old, was a father to Brandon and an older brother to Allan, Ashleigh and Stacey. He began his Army training in December 2003 and subsequently joined the 1st Battalion Scots Guards in Germany in 2004.  

He immediately deployed as a Warrior Driver in Right Flank to Iraq on Operation TELIC 5.  It was during his time with Right Flank that he developed a reputation as an immensely fit and robust infantry soldier.  After a brief spell with B (Support Weapons) Company as a Mortarman, he decided to join the Pipes and Drums despite having, by his own admission, no musical knowledge.  He passed his Class 3 Drummers Course in 2007 and his Class 2 Drummers Course in 2008, both at the Army School of Bagpipe Music and Highland Drumming, and with flying colours.

Having passed a Junior Non Commissioned Officers’ Cadre he was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal in March 2009.  He remained in the Pipes and Drums and regularly represented the Regiment and Battalion at musical events.  These events included Pipe Band tours of Moscow in 2007, USA in 2009 and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in 2006 and 2009. He was also a key member of the Battalion’s football team. His unflinching and passionate support for Celtic Football Club could never be dampened. 

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Obituaries in The Times of London and elsewhere

The Rev Robin Roe CBE, MC, QHC 11 October 1928 - 15 July 2010
Gallantry under fire in Aden tending dead and wounded. Assistant Chaplain General 1973-1981

 

A British soldier, from 36 Engineer Regiment, serving with the Counter-IED Task Force, was killed on Monday 26th July in an explosion in the Sangin area of Helmand Provine. The fatality is currently being investigated as a suspected friendly fire incident.

Lance Corporal Stephen Daniel Monkhouse from 1st Battalion Scots Guards, serving as part of Combined Force Lashkar Gah, and Corporal Matthew James Stenton from The Royal Dragoon Guards Viking Group, D (The Green Horse) Squadron, were killed on 21 July 2010 as they sought to evacuate a casualty. Their eulogies are published in the Obituaries section.

 

The funeral of Harry Patch, the last UK veteran from World War 1, will take place on Thursday 6 August 2009 at Wells Cathedral in Wells, Somerset.

At approximately 11:30 am Harry's coffin will begin its journey from his former care home Fletcher House to Wells Cathedral. Members of the public are encouraged to pay their respects to Harry by lining the route of the cortege as it travels through the centre of Wells to the Cathedral. Silence is requested.

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Obituaries published in The Times and elsewhere

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Obituaries published in The Times and elsewhere

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Deaths of former service personnel reported in The Times of London

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Obituaries published in The Times of London unless otherwise stated

Air Chief Marshal Sir Derek Hodgkinson KCB, CBE, DFC, AFC 27 December 1917 - 29 January 2010
Coastal Command pilot shot down on 1000 bomber raid who rose to Air Secretary

Major Peter Murray Lee 25 February 1913 - 4 February 2010
Wartime SOE officer in Algeria and Italy

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Obituaries published in The Times and elsewhere

Wing Commander Bob Doe DSO, DFC and Bar 10 March 1920 - 21 February 2010
Battle of Britain in Spitfires and Hurricanes, Hurribombers over India and Burma

 

Obituaries published in The Times of London unless otherwise stated

Baroness Park of Monmouth CMG, OBE 1 September 1921 - 24 March 2010
Secret Intelligence Service (SIS, MI6) officer - Head of Moscow Station,Controller of the Western Hemisphere; Special Operations Executive and Field Intelligence Agency veteran

Major Brice Sommers 24 April 1916 - 13 March 2010
Royal Marine who was the first Briton to enter liberated Antwerp and Breendonk prison camp

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Obituaries published in The Times of London unless otherwise stated

Sergeant (later Pilot Officer) Ray Grayston 13 October 1918 - 15 April 2010
One of the last surviving "Dam Busters", shot down during raid on Dortmund -Ems canal

Diana Home 2 March 1920 - 27 March 2010
Wartime WAAF officer who ferried aircraft from factory to squadron

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Obituaries published in the Times of London

General Sir Jack Harman GCB, OBE, MC 20 July 1920 - 28 December 2009
Tank commander in the Western Desert to Deputy Supreme Commander, Europe nder General Al Haig

Rear Adm Sam Salt CB 19 April 1940 - 3 December 2009
Submariner who commanded HMS Sheffield, sunk in the Falklands

Maj General Oliver Roome CBE, 9 March 1921 - 8 November 2009
Mineclearer and sapper in Western Desert, Sicily and Italy, to Bonn Chief of Joint Services Liason Organisation

 

Obituaries published in The Times of London and elsewhere:

Wing Commander John Holland DFC, AE 18 April 1920 - 15 May 2010
Wartime Lancaster pilot and nuclear strike Canberras during Cuban Missile Crisis

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moran_christopherMESSAGE FROM AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SIR STEPHEN DALTON, CHIEF OF AIR STAFF

"It is with great sadness and shock that I announce the untimely death of Air Chief Marshal Sir Christopher Moran KCB OBE MVO ADC MA BSc FRAeS RAF on Wednesday 26 May 2010.

"Sir Chris had been the Commander-in-Chief of Air Command for the last 14 months.  During a distinguished career, he served in a wide number of appointments; a Harrier pilot by background, he commanded Royal Air Force Wittering and was the Air Officer Commanding Number 1 Group.

"Sir Chris was also Equerry to The Duke of Edinburgh in the early 1990s. A highly respected and courageous leader, this tragic loss comes as a huge blow to the Royal Air Force and, indeed, Defence at large.

"Most importantly, our prayers and thoughts are with his family, to whom I offer my most sincere condolences on behalf of the Royal Air Force, serving and retired."

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Obituaries published in The Times of London and elsewhere

Major Sir David (Zibda) Butter KCVO, MC 18 March 1920 - 29 May 2010
Decorated for gallantry in defensive actions in Western Desert in 1942

Maj General Peter Bradley CB, CBE, DSO 12 December 1912 - 4 June 2010
One of only 10 Royal Signals officers to win DSO, with 6th Airborne Division crossing the Rhine

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Obituaries published in The Times of London and elsewhere

Vice Admiral Sir Lancelot Bell Davies KBE 18 February 1926 - 3 July 2010
From sinking of the Scharnhorst to SACLANT via introducing Principal Warfare Officers

Sqn Ldr Gerald Stephenson DFC 12 May 1920 - 13 April 2010
6 victories, 2 shared, 7 probables in Battle of Britain, Hurricats over convoys and Typhoon over Normandy

 

I am a 21 year old woman and my life was very happy and full of love. This was before a terrible...experience occurred...I try my hardest to keep up with understanding the background to your decisions on Afghanistan...

I want to explain my background so maybe you can relate in some way to why I am very frustrated with you, and maybe you will understand we are people not just numbers...I left school after my GCSEs and I started to think about serving my country and working for the British Army. I enrolled onto a college course and got my diplomas.

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By John Howe

Sir Michael Quinlan, who died in February at the age of seventy-eight, was a towering figure in the world of defence. Deputy Under Secretary for Policy at MoD from 1977 to 1981, and Permanent Under Secretary from 1998 to 1992, he made a remarkable contribution to the intellectual underpinning of defence policy, especially the theory and practice of nuclear deterrence.

In Michael Quinlan, two qualities shone out: acute intellect, and strong concern, rooted no doubt in his Catholic upbringing and faith, to relate the intellectual issues of nuclear deterrence to moral principle.

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